Hoaxer Tuiasosopo Tells Dr. Phil He Was in Love with Manti Te’o

The man who duped Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o into believing he was dating a girl named Lennay Kekua admitted to Dr. Phil that he was “deeply, romatically” in love with the college football player.

The first half of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo’s exclusive interview with Dr. Phil will air on Thursday, but Dr. Phil McGraw went on the Today Show Wednesday to talk about his conversation with the hoaxer.

“Here we have a young man that fell deeply, romantically in love. I asked him straight up, “Was this a romantic relationship with you?” And he says yes. I said, ‘Are you then therefore gay?’ And he said, ‘When you put it that way, yes.’ And then he caught himself and said, ‘I am confused.'”

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The 22-year-old convinced Manti Te’o that he was a 20-year-old girl and carried out a relationship with him over the internet and never met in person. Tuiasosopo also told Dr. Phil that it was in fact him on the phone with Manti in recordings of linebacker talking to “Lennay” and not a female accomplice.

Dr. Phil further said that Manti Te’o was “absolutely, unequivocally” not involved in carrying out the hoax.

Well, now that that’s all cleared up, can we please move on to more important matters?