A bizarre rumor concerning Manti Te’o, a famous football player for Notre Dame, and his mysterious girlfriend first surfaced in the sports world in 2012. Following the case, Netflix’s two-part documentary “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist” was released.
He is an American footballer and a free agent. Back then, he played college football for Notre Dame. Throughout his career, the 2013 NFL Draft has received eight national awards. The 31-year player was with Chicago Bears as a practice squad. The contract ended after the 18 January 2021 season.
Manti Te’o Fake Girlfriend: Is Lennay Kekua A Real Person?
Manti Te’o was heartbroken on 11 September 2012 after he revealed his grandmother and his girlfriend Lennay Kekua had died.
He had kept his relationship away from the media’s attention, but at the time of grief, he revealed his partner was a student at Stanford University.
But there was doubt behind everyone’s head if she was a real person since she was never spotted together with him.
Manti also let the world know that she had met a car accident and later was found to have leukemia during the crash treatment. He also revealed that he had promised her he would miss no games for Notre Dame despite anything that happened to her.
Many mainstream media covered this tragic story as the young athlete was going strong in the 2012 season. Later two reporters, Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey of Deadspin, received a tip in January 2013 via email. As a result, they started an investigation and found that Lennay Kekua was not a real person, it was a fake identity that involved the athlete in a relationship hoax.
Further, the investigation pointed toward a person named Ronaiah, now Naya Tuiasosopo. Her relationship with the Te’o was of a family friend. Additionally, the picture on the web, which was said to be of Lennay, belonged to the former high school classmate of the Tuiasosopo, Diane O’Meara.
Where Is Naya Tuiasosopo Now? Manti Te’o Scammer Girlfriend
Naya Tuiasosopo created Lennay Kekua and other catfish Manti reported, Women’s Health Magazine. She was a transgender woman who confessed to falling in love with Manti but never dared to speak out loud about who she was.
She made him believe that she graduated from Stanford with family roots in Hawaii but then lived in California. Dr.Phil was informed that she was a victim of abuse and had created Lennay to live in an alternate reality.
Tuiasosopo, a scammer girlfriend to the linebacker, said she had put herself in that fictional person and was totally into him. She said all her emotions were true, although the character was fake.
In the documentary, Tuiasosopo did not open up about where she is and what she is doing now. She only said she had moved on and started living her life.
Lennay Kekua Story Of Catfishing By Naya Tuiasosopo- Untold Docu On Netflix
Naya was the voice of Lennay Kekua, Manti’s online girlfriend, who didn’t even exist. She later confessed she catfished the young player as she was trying to escape reality and was enjoying her fictional alternative life of Lennay.
She used her high school friends’ photos and would talk to To’e on the phone as they had met online and were in a relationship. However, the player never revealed their meeting.
While hearing the Naya in the documentary, she did injustice to the athlete, but later killed Lennay and thought of telling the truth. She said she wanted to end the fake relationship. She added she wanted to move on in her life.
Manti’s fans went very aggressive and were looking if any punishment was mended for catfishing. But unfortunately, there are no laws, and she walked out freely. No law says one could not pretend to be someone online. After not considered fraud committed, the convict did not face legal trouble.