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Telly addicts

Untold - the girlfriend who didn’t exist. (Netflix)

28 replies

PriamFarrl · 20/08/2022 23:25

It’s the true story of a seemingly very sweet young American football player who gets catfished.
Has anyone seen it?

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seething1234 · 20/08/2022 23:33

I'm watching it now. I loved all the Untold episodes but this one is making me want to throw something at the TV.

Cas112 · 20/08/2022 23:33

This made me so angry, the perpetrator had no remorse what so ever and I felt like they was still feeding off the attention.

That poor soul did nothing and had his life ruined

FancyACuppaThen · 20/08/2022 23:43

Feel so so sorry for him!

MasterOfOne · 20/08/2022 23:47

I watched it...... still not sure what I think, but a great story.....

Cocolapew · 20/08/2022 23:48

I watched it yesterday, I was so angry at Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, they didn't care about anything but themselves, saying at the end of the program they wanted to shine a light on their story.
Mantis' career, confidence and hapiness was ruined by Ronaiah.

StressfulBedtimes · 20/08/2022 23:51

I tried to watch this but only made it through one episode
It was sooooo sloooowwww I just wanted them to get to the point
Also I thought the ‘background’ music was far too loud and I struggled to hear what they were actually saying in places! Did anyone else find this??

Occitane · 21/08/2022 00:06

@StressfulBedtimes We found exactly the same thing - couldn’t hear what was being said because the music was so loud, and it was so slooooowwww! We gave up in the middle of the second episode.

Alexandria94 · 21/08/2022 02:08

Yes, I watched it I had to google 'what happened to Manti' part way through as I couldn't take the build up. Incredibly sad. He seemed like such a genuine, sweet guy and his whole life was totally derailed by such an elaborate, heartless game.

And for Ronaiah to sit there and say that they wouldnt change a thing as they learnt from the experience! The absolute audacity. I was so angry. And also felt sad about the abuse he had to put up with for years, especially that from the media.

Manti Te'o spoke with a lot more grace than I could have had towards Ronaiah. I wish him well for the future.

Popsicle33 · 21/08/2022 02:39

I felt sorry for Manti but he was incredibly naive. The thing that did it to him was just me me me!

MummySaidBeKindAlways · 21/08/2022 02:46

This reply has been deleted

The OP is a troll.

TinaYouFatLard · 21/08/2022 03:14

I did feel sorry for Manti but like Sweet Bobby, couldn’t help but think surely he must have had suspicions or concerns on some level.

Ronaiah was a totally self-absorbed POS.

I think he should have done a George Michael and embraced the piss-taking. Got ahead of the memes and comedy sketches. GM was a master at this.

backupplan1 · 21/08/2022 03:19

I wish more was done on social media to prove who you are! Security checks should be used on all social and dating apps!!
The world is dangerous 😞

Cocolapew · 21/08/2022 09:14

I think the fact that Manti spoke to 'her' prolonged the deception, I'm still not convinced that the voice was Ronaiah, to me, it didn't sound like him on the Dr Phil clip, either there was someone else involved or a voice filter.
His friend seemed more suspicious of it all.
Also coming back from the dead?! 😂 Definitely over egging the pudding.

PriamFarrl · 21/08/2022 09:15

backupplan1 · 21/08/2022 03:19

I wish more was done on social media to prove who you are! Security checks should be used on all social and dating apps!!
The world is dangerous 😞

This was a good few years ago now, and not via a dating app but just Facebook.

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PriamFarrl · 21/08/2022 09:17

I was shocked at how little remorse or care was shown by Ronaiah. Publicly destroying someone and they just didn’t care.

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IconicKitty · 21/08/2022 09:43

I watched this yesterday and I have so many thoughts...

It was strange he never met his 'girlfriend' and yet considered 'her' his 'girlfriend'. And never even asked for video calls? Skype was quite a big thing back then.

And as for the perpetrator, they had no remorse whatsoever and acted like the whole thing was justified because they needed to go on a 'journey'. Just bizarre.

Cocolapew · 21/08/2022 10:10

He did ask for facetime etc but Ronaiah used excuses not too, he said he used excuses he saw used on the Catfish programme 🤦.
I do think Manti was very naive or very stupid though. Maybe a combination of both?
As a sideline, Manti really grew into his looks.

Remainiac · 21/08/2022 10:21

Watched ep 1 last night, so bizarre, the whole thing was bizarre. Manti made so many wrong decisions- wrong college, wrong to go back for senior year, wrong to get so involved with someone he never met over years. And as for Ronaiah, she/they should be in prison. Unbelievably dreadful thing to do.
We watched it after watching James Norton in Rogue Agent. That’s another tale of incredible gullibility meeting untrammelled criminality/ psychopathology. The perpetrator in that is still at large too.

PriamFarrl · 21/08/2022 12:32

Remainiac · 21/08/2022 10:21

Watched ep 1 last night, so bizarre, the whole thing was bizarre. Manti made so many wrong decisions- wrong college, wrong to go back for senior year, wrong to get so involved with someone he never met over years. And as for Ronaiah, she/they should be in prison. Unbelievably dreadful thing to do.
We watched it after watching James Norton in Rogue Agent. That’s another tale of incredible gullibility meeting untrammelled criminality/ psychopathology. The perpetrator in that is still at large too.

I agree that Ronaiah should have gone to prison, but for what? What actual crime had been committed? Ronaiah didn’t get an money I don’t think.

And yes I agree that it’s odd that he would refer to her as his girlfriend when they hadn’t met. I know he was a good Christian boy but I can’t imagine he was short of female attention.

I also don’t get what went through the mind of the girl in the pictures who posed holding up the sign. Why would you do that for some random person you’ve not met?

OP posts:
PriamFarrl · 21/08/2022 12:33

I think that Manti came from a very small, supportive community and saw the best in people.

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HRTQueen · 22/08/2022 22:30

Ronaiah is so self absorbed and seems to have no remorse at all I felt no sympathy for them and I think loving the attention they are getting

Manti is such a lovely person I think was naive but he did say he has some doubts but I guess when you think someone is dying you don’t ask questions

phoneybaloney · 22/08/2022 22:41

I watched this over the weekend and thought the same. He was so so naive and trusting. I was also as an atheist baffled by the whole thought process of his faith leading him eg choosing a college, doing another year there, etc. I know there are cultural differences and faith versus atheist approaches but he seemed to make such big blind decisions in such flippant ways basing it on signs from God. (?!) I think someone coming from a tiny, trusting community he was wide open to being manipulated sadly.

The catfish person seemed to have no remorse or regrets at all. I felt so angry towards them!! All the effects it had on Manti's career and mental health. 😡 I think there was a real need for the drama and attention with zero thought to how it was affecting him. Letting him talk on the phone everyday to her while she was supposedly unconscious in hospital. Even his parents opening up to her "family" after she passed on the phone, consoling them, etc.

I was confused about the little girl involved. She'd said she missed her aunty to him?? I didn't quite get how that worked or was explained.

By the end of it I couldn't bear the catfish. What an awful person.

IAmOldNow · 22/08/2022 22:43

Utterly bizarre story, the lot of it!

So, Manti, alone, like a fish out of water, undoubtedly looking for meaningful human relationships, grasping at any straw - and, yet, as sympathetic as this sounds: who on earth enters into a serious, committed relationship with someone they've never even met in person?

Ronaiah, I don't even know how to go about it: manipulative and coercive - also knowingly operating under false pretenses. Manipulative to the very max. But they've really grown as a person as a result of, "their" ordeal. So this would seem to be alright, then ...

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 23/08/2022 08:18

I don't understand how you can call someone your partner if you've never met them. I've got a friend who's "talking to" several men online she's never met, she doesn't call them her boyfriend but does send them naked pictures and talks sexually to them. Which is crazy.

I'd never heard this story or heard of the football player so looked it up. It's even more bizarre that such a young person with so much going for them is fooled by this.

ChillysWaterBottle · 27/08/2022 22:07

I felt so sorry for Manti.

The perpetrator was an absolute sociopath. Self-absorbed, manipulative, evil dickhead.

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