We’re all used to seeing fictionalised mobsters and Mafiosos on the big screen – but what about the real deal?
ITV journalist Trevor McDonald explores the criminal underworld in his new series through women connected to the mob.
His interviewees include daughters, wives, and girlfriends of mafia members, and explores how the criminal underworld meshes with their personal lives.
The first episode partly follows Linda Scarper, the daughter of a hitman who earned himself the nickname ‘the Grim Reaper’.
His violent ways spilled over into Linda’s life when she was caught smoking pot with her friend – who was then viciously beaten.
Home footage of her and her father dancing on her 16th birthday certainly conjure up the awkward intersections between family and familia life as explored in The Sopranos – but are even more fascinating for their authenticity.
It’s not just past mafia-related relationships – there’s also Amy, who is dating former Colombo family captain Anthony Russo.
When they first started going out, she didn’t knew who he was – and only found out about his past when she searched his name on Google.
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But she doesn’t seem bothered about her partner’s actions before they met.
“I guess a part of me was like, the stuff was so long ago,” she tells McDonald. “I tell him all the time, I’m not scared of you. I don’t feel scared around him or anything. I love him.”
ITV, 9pm
