Julia Wendell has recently sent the media into a frenzy with her newfound fame, after claims that she believes she is long time missing girl Madeleine McCann.
And with recent appearances on Dr Phil, everyone’s wondering the same thing – Is she making any money from this?
Then-three-year-old Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007 while on vacation with her family, and her case still remains unsolved almost 16 years later.
It all started with an Instagram account, named (@iammadeleinemccan), where she uploaded a series of photos and videos comparing her physical similarities to Madeleine and her parents Gerry and Kate McCann, urging people to believe that she is the missing girl.
Wendell claimed to have similar freckles and beauty marks, as well as sharing the same distinct mark on her eye as Madeleine. She also drew attention to physical similarities between herself and Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann.
She has also said she was abused by a German paedophile, who looks like someone who was once a suspect in Maddie’s disappearance.
Most recently, she appeared on chat show Dr Phil, alongside private investigator Dr. Fia Johansson, who is working with Wendell in uncovering the truth behind her case.
Whilst on the show, she spoke about missing gaps in her childhood, her relationship with her parents, and when she finally started questioning her identity.
She stated her earliest memories were all foggy, and described it as: “It was the beach and water, like sea or ocean, and there were turtles and children…”
After her influx in media attention, people have began to speculate if there’s more motive behind her claims, and if it’s down to money.
Well, Dr Johansson answered the question on everyone’s mind.
In an Instagram post, she said: “Hello guys – about Dr Phil if we made money… no. We didn’t actually get a dime to be involved with Dr Phil’s show.
“We didn’t receive anything, Julia [didn’t] receive anything, Julia just went on the stage and was herself and told the truth.”
”A lot of you ask if Julia made some sort of money by going to any type of press, Radar [RadarOnline] for example, all other things… no.”
“We did not pay them anything, they did not pay us anything.”
She is still waiting on the results of DNA and genetic testing. Wendell has said that no matter what the results are, she won’t be returning back to her old family.
