Can I Tell You A Secret? Ending explained

We’ve broken down the ending of Can I Tell You A Secret?, a chilling new true crime documentary series about the worst cyberstalker in UK history. 

The true crime genre has evolved at an exponential rate since the dawn of streaming. What was once a niche fascination, with documentaries largely focusing on prolific serial killers, has turned into a global phenomenon. 

Netflix leads the charge in this arena, spawning multiple trending topics — a couple of years back, amid the release of The Tinder Swindler, scammers dominated true crime. Last year, cults took over amid the release of Escaping Twin Flames, Love Has Won, and Born in Synanon.

But now a frightening new trend — one only made possible in the digital era — has emerged: cyberstalking. Following the release of Netflix’s Lover Stalker Killer, Can I Tell You A Secret? puts this destructive crime under the spotlight. Warning: the docuseries is based on real-life events, but spoiler alert to those who are unfamiliar with the case. 

Can I Tell You A Secret? Ending explained

The ending of Can I Tell You A Secret? sees prolific cyberstalker, Matthew Hardy, sentenced to nine years in prison, making it the longest custodial sentence in British history for online stalking. As stated in the Netflix doc, 11 months after his term started, his sentence was reduced to eight years at the Court of Appeal. 

The two-part docuseries also wraps up the stories of Abby, Zoe, and Lia, three of hundreds of women whose lives were ripped apart by Hardy’s actions. Hardy’s modus operandi was as calculated as it was sinister: he would create fake personas online and randomly select women to target, initiating contact with a seemingly innocuous question: “Can I tell you a secret?”

What began as odd yet harmless interactions quickly escalated into a nightmare for his victims. Using tactics of manipulation and deception, he would send intimate photos of these women to people in their lives, reach out to their families, and even position himself within their relationships, fabricating lies of infidelity.

For years, Hardy’s relentless campaign of harassment wore down his targets, leaving them too frightened to leave their own homes. Despite numerous reports to the authorities, little was done to stop him, highlighting a need for greater legal protection for stalking victims. In one scene, Zoe recalls going to the police with sufficient evidence including Hardy’s phone number, only to be told that they couldn’t intervene unless a murder or rape had occurred. 

Though he was located in Cheshire, Hardy’s reach extended across the UK. It wasn’t until 2019 that the tide began to turn, thanks to the dedicated efforts of PC Kevin Anderson of the Cheshire police. Assigned to the case in December, Anderson was shocked by the sheer scale of Hardy’s crimes. He reached out to Lia, one of the victims, whose meticulous documentation of her interactions with Hardy proved invaluable to the investigation.

Finally, after years of terrorizing innocent women, Hardy was apprehended. But for Abby, Zoe, Lia, and countless others, the scars of his crimes will endure long after his arrest. “I don’t really trust anyone, apart from my family,” says Lia, while Zoe wraps up her story by stating, “I do think it has changed me as a person. I’m a lot more private than I used to be.” As for Abby, she explains: “I experience all these feelings that I never felt before. I still have really bad paranoia. I’m really trying to work on myself to become the person that I used to be.”

Can I Tell You A Secret? is available to stream on Netflix now.