Courtney & Chris (2021) - full transcript
Courtney has been mad in love with her Turkish boyfriend for three years, but she met Chris while role-playing and is wondering if he's just a fantasy. Nev and Kamie cross digital borders to hunt the identity of her international mystery man.
- Three years ago,
Courtney met Chris,
who lived in Turkey, online.
- Oh, I'm in love with him.
- Have you sent gifts?
- I've sent
maybe around a grand.
- Courtney.
- She only has one picture
where he shows his face.
Why is this guy
cloaking his identity,
not just from her,
but from everyone?
- Oh, my God, I have a message.
- I can hear you.
- What is happening?
[dramatic musical sting]
- All right,
so let's text our girl.
It's time to get to work.
- Hey, guys,
welcome back to my channel.
We're gonna make some coffee.
Watch out, Ayesha Curry.
I'm coming for you.
[punchy music]
We're gonna put
some more oat milk inside.
Little razzle dazzle.
♪ ♪
Some vanilla creamer.
Bloop.
♪ ♪
Make sure that you
comment, like, and subscribe
to Kamie Catfish
Breakfast Tutorials
[computer chimes]
- Hello.
- Are you finally ready?
Jeez.
- I'm always ready.
- Sure you are.
All right, here we go.
An email from Courtney.
[soft dramatic music]
"Dear Nev and Kamie,
my name is Courtney.
"I'm 22, and I work
as a home health aide in Ohio.
"And, well, I guess
I might be getting catfished.
Three years ago,
I met Chris online."
♪ ♪
"I would never have guessed
this guy who lived in Turkey
"would turn out
to be the love of my life,
but that's exactly
what happened."
- If Courtney can get a trip
to Turkey out of this,
she should take it.
- "Chris is an artist,
he's smart,
"and he has
the best taste in music,
"anime, and video games,
but our relationship
hasn't exactly been smooth."
♪ ♪
"We've broken up
and gotten back together
"so many times
that I can't even keep track,
"but we started up again
this past November,
"and it's more serious
this time.
"I thought that would mean
"Chris would start
video chatting
"with me,
but nothing has changed.
- ♪ It's never enough,
never enough ♪
♪ Never enough,
ooh, doesn't... ♪
- "I try not to let myself
think about the fact
"that Chris could be a catfish,
but I've seen your show.
"If Chris is a catfish,
"I'm not sure
what that will mean for us,
"but I can't just keep
hoping for the best.
"It's time for me to find out
who Chris really is.
I hope you can help me.
Courtney."
- ♪ Love, love, love ♪
♪ What do I got
to do to get some love? ♪
♪ ♪
- Wow.
- Three years.
Let's text our girl Courtney.
Hey, Courtney.
It's Nev.
We just read your email
and wanna help.
- I don't want
to get false hope
that Chris is real,
but he could be real.
He could just be hesitant
about the long-distance
relationship, right?
- It's not impossible.
- Maybe he just
doesn't like FaceTiming.
I don't know.
- The good news is,
her eyes are open enough
to know that something's up.
[computer chimes]
Oh, hi.
- Hey.
- Hi, guys.
- Are you freaked out?
- Mm-hmm.
- [laughs]
Is it Nev?
Be honest.
- I mean, I've always wanted
to meet him,
just--I didn't--not like this.
- [chuckles]
Well, I'm flattered.
And it's nice to meet you.
Where are you in Ohio?
- I'm in Canton.
- You're a home health aide.
What does that mean?
- I take care of people
in their homes that
are developmentally disabled.
- Wow.
It's a very selfless job.
Good for you.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Anyway, tell us about Chris.
How did you guys meet?
What is going on?
- Okay.
Well, I love telling this story
because it's very strange.
We met on Facebook
but through roleplay.
- Ooh, fun, okay.
- I was on my roleplay account,
and the person
that my character was with
sent Chris's character
to try and kill my character,
and it didn't happen.
I ended up telling him
that I had feelings for him.
[soft dramatic music]
And we ended up
in a relationship.
- Wow, all right.
So when you met Chris,
it was as his character.
- Yes.
- Eventually, he sent me
a cosplay picture of himself.
That was the only
actual picture
I've seen with his face in it.
And the other picture I have,
he's wearing a mask.
- Well, wait a second.
You have now been friends with
his Facebook account, right?
- Yeah.
- Does he have more photos
of himself on there?
- No, it's mostly just his art.
- In three years, you've only
seen two pictures of him?
- Mm-hmm.
- You don't even really know
what he looks like.
- I know.
- Oh, my God.
- Can you show us
the one picture
you've seen of him?
- I sure can.
He said it was
a werewolf cosplay.
- What are you talking about?
There's nothing
werewolf about that.
He's not even in a costume.
- [chuckles]
- Did you want to see the mask?
- Sure, yeah.
- That's a mask.
- So, Courtney,
do you really think
Chris is the guy
in that one picture?
- I don't know.
I would like it to be him
because it is
a very attractive person
that he showed me.
- Sure.
- What do you know
about him personally?
- He lives in Izmit, Turkey,
with his mom.
He, to my knowledge,
is jobless.
He's an artist.
He does portraits,
anime characters,
stuff like that.
- How old is Chris?
- 22.
- Oh, so he's the same age.
What do you like about him?
- He's got amazing music taste.
90% of the bands
I listen to now
is because of him.
Same with
the animes that we watch.
I didn't get into anime
until he introduced me.
Anything that I'm interested in
now is because of him--
90% of
my personality basically.
- What?
- Wow.
- He's in
a completely different country,
has a whole different set
of interests,
and, like, that's really cool,
but what is it about him
that attracts you?
- It's really hard
to explain that.
I'd say it's just
how he makes me feel.
- I get it.
The connection that you have
is very meaningful.
- Yeah.
- Do you guys only talk
via Facebook?
- We eventually went
to WhatsApp.
- You talk on the phone?
- I've only spoken to him
on the phone once.
- What was the vibe?
- It felt like he didn't want
to be on the phone.
- Mm.
- It sounded like he would
rather be doing something else.
It just didn't last long.
- Was it, like,
a distinct male voice?
- To me, yeah, it sounded male.
- And did he have an accent?
- Yes.
I've tried
asking for more calls,
and he said no.
It's really disappointing.
- How can Chris justify
not video chatting you
over the last three years?
- He's just always busy,
and he's given me excuses
like his laptop's too old
and the time difference.
- How do you know
he's even in Turkey?
- I believe he is.
He's shown me Turkish movies,
shows, music.
Did you know that black roses
naturally grow there?
- Oh, I didn't know that.
You've really dove headfirst
into the culture.
- The horticulture.
- [chuckles]
Yeah, ever since I found out
that he's from Turkey,
I love Turkey.
A lot of times,
I would talk about
wanting to go to Turkey
to see him.
So just the idea of, like,
planning that is something
that makes me happy,
but I don't want to go
if he's not real.
- Right.
- Have you sent him gifts
or anything like that?
- Back in 2018,
I sent him an Odin bust.
[upbeat music]
- Wait.
- It's a mini statue.
- And did he ever say
he got this--the bust?
- Oh, yeah,
he sent me a picture of it.
- Oh.
- So then--okay,
so then it confirms
that he is, in fact, in Turkey.
- Promising.
- Wow, okay, interesting.
- And he sent me a gift.
That very hoodie right there.
- Is it a special hoodie?
- It's his.
- Oh, he sent you his hoodie.
- He sent you his hoodie.
- Yes, back in 2018.
- And it came from Turkey?
- Yes.
- No money exchanges
between the two of you?
- I have sent money
to his friend.
- Why did you send money
to his friend?
- So that she
could give it to him.
- How much?
- Over the course
of three years,
I've sent maybe around a grand.
- Courtney...
- [chuckles]
- That's a lot of money.
- Yeah.
- Courtney,
you see how this sounds?
- [chuckles]
- Who is his friend?
Who is this girl?
- It's Ece.
- And do you ever talk to her?
- I don't.
- Does her Cash App profile
have a photo?
Could you pull it up for us?
- I used to have it,
but then it disappeared.
- So she just wiped her page.
- Completely.
It doesn't exist anymore.
I've tried looking for it.
- Hmm.
- Oh, Courtney.
So after all this shadiness,
you still
have strong feelings?
How do you feel about him?
- Oh, I'm in love with him.
He is actually
my longest relationship.
- Really?
- Yes, we were engaged once.
- When was that?
- 2018.
- What is that?
- He sent me that picture.
- So he sent you
an anime picture
of a guy proposing.
- Yes.
- So that was the engagement?
- Yes.
And I went, "Yes."
And he went, "That was easy."
[chuckles]
- Wow.
- [laughs]
- I mean, look,
he sounds really cool, okay?
He's into cool stuff.
He's an artist,
and he lives in Turkey.
But come on,
the guy can video chat,
and he's had excuses not to
for the last three years.
There has to be
a reason for that.
That, coupled with the fact
that he's only ever sent you
one photo
and you only had
one weird phone call,
suggests to me that there's
a very, very good likelihood
he's not the guy in that photo.
- I'm ready to get answers.
- Mm-hmm.
- I have to find out
if it's actually him or not.
I just want it to be real.
- All right, so look,
send us anything you've got.
Let us do a little research,
and we'll see
if we can figure something out.
- Thank you, guys.
- Oh, boy.
What do you think?
- My biggest concern
is that Chris
doesn't really care
about her that much.
- Seems like he's a scammer
or at least he's hiding
something really big.
But it concerns me
that Courtney is so invested
that she's literally
changing her favorite things
to be his favorite things.
Her personality has now become
the things
that are his favorite things,
and that is
a slippery [bleep] slope.
[dramatic music]
[computer chimes]
- Something's going on here.
We need to help Courtney.
Some classic catfish red flags
with Chris.
- Mm-hmm.
- Won't video chat.
Only talked on the phone once.
Normally, I would say
that he says he lives in Turkey
is one of them, but that
actually seems to be true.
- I think that part is real.
- He either
directly asked for
or hinted towards
her sending him money,
which she has done,
but, of course,
he doesn't have
his own Cash App
or Venmo or wire transfer.
She has to send the money
to his friend.
- Always got to send the money
to the friend.
- Just shady.
- My biggest concern is that,
whether it's a guy
or a girl behind this,
their feelings do not match
Courtney's feelings.
Like, he sent her a meme
of an engagement,
and she took that
as a real life engagement.
- I know.
- She needs to be
kind of, like,
brought down
to Earth a little bit
because it's just not giving
what it's supposed
to have been gave.
- All right, well,
let's do some research.
Let's see if we got
an email here.
All right,
here's what I've got for you.
His name is Chris [bleep].
He's 22 and lives in Izmit,
Turkey, with his family.
Here's his phone number,
his personal Facebook page.
The girl I sent money to
is named Ece.
All I have on her
is just her name.
And then the two pictures.
- Okay.
- So let's go
to his Facebook page.
All right, so here
it's Christoffer [bleep]
or Narperist,
which seems to be,
like, the name he uses--
a sad artist.
- One post.
Or is his page locked up?
- I don't know.
Here's his art.
[soft dramatic music]
Pretty good artist.
♪ ♪
Wait, look.
He has another page
for his art.
The Narperist.
Courtney never mentioned
he had
an art page on Facebook.
Oh, and here's
his phone number,
which is the same
as the number she gave us.
Here's an Instagram.
She didn't mention that,
but all this stuff
is all kind of available
to see on his artist account.
He's got a story.
Okay.
I mean,
there's a subtitle there
that looks to be Turkish.
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
He has a TikTok.
I'll look it up.
Found it.
It says artist,
he, him, age 22.
- But there's no videos,
obviously, right?
- There's videos.
♪ ♪
Him drawing.
- But is it just his hand?
- Yeah.
- All these
social media profiles,
and there still aren't
any more pictures of him.
It's all just
the same art stuff.
So that doesn't help.
Now let's do
a quick image search
of that one picture
where he shows his face
just in case
something comes up.
♪ ♪
No.
And then here's
the mask picture.
♪ ♪
No.
What else do we have here?
We have his phone number.
I don't think we can run
international phone numbers.
There's nothing else to search.
- Well, what about
searching for Ece,
the friend that Courtney
has been sending the money to
on Christoffer's friend list?
- Okay.
♪ ♪
Negative.
Maybe on his Instagram.
♪ ♪
Ece!
- [gasps]
Aha!
- Who is this?
Could this be our girl?
♪ ♪
Well, she's into
video games and gaming.
- Mm.
- I just want to see
if there's any
of her with Christoffer.
- Yeah, aren't they supposed
to be, like, best friends?
- Yeah, there are no pictures
of them together.
All right, well,
let's message her.
- What if Chris is Ece?
- She definitely seems to have
some of the same hobbies.
- Yeah.
- What if Ece's trying
to explore her sexuality?
I mean,
it might be a tough thing
to do in the Turkish culture.
- Right.
- Think about this:
you cannot find a picture
of him on the Internet.
Why is this guy
cloaking his identity,
not just from her,
but from everyone?
- Well, how about the fact that
they finally get on the phone
once over the course
of three years,
and she admits that he sounded
like he would rather
be somewhere else?
- Well, to me, that sounds
like it was not him.
He got somebody
to be his voice for 30 minutes.
- Or she got somebody.
- Right.
I think it's her.
Ece is in love with Courtney
but too afraid to admit it.
- Courtney could be in
for a big disappointment.
- All right, let's get
Courtney on the horn
for an update
on what we found.
- If it's this this girl Ece
that she paid the $1,000 to,
this could turn ugly
really fast.
[computer chimes]
- Hey, what's up, Courtney?
Who you got there?
- Oh, I have a unicorn.
- Is that your therapy animal?
- Mm-hmm.
- Cute.
- All right, well, look,
we did some research.
We're trying to see
what we can find.
So let me share
my screen with you
so you can see what we found.
As you already knew,
he has his Facebook page,
his personal one
and his art one.
- Oh.
- Does that surprise you?
- I just didn't know.
- Well, on that page,
his phone number
is the same that you have.
He's got a TikTok.
Did you know he has a TikTok?
- No.
- And the big thing we found
on his art page
is a link to his Instagram.
Did you know
he has an Instagram?
- I did not.
- The weird thing is, all
of his social media accounts
have the same content.
They're all basically
his work as an artist,
but none of them
have any photos of him.
Whoever he is,
he's doing a very good job
of keeping
his identity a secret.
♪ ♪
The fact that you even have
a photo of him is remarkable
because there's no photos
of him
on any of his many
social media profiles.
But at the same time,
he's got his phone number
and his email,
and you can contact him
very easily
if you want
to commission artwork,
so he's not against
putting himself out there.
He just doesn't want anyone
to know what he looks like.
- Hmm.
- And so then we were trying
to find out
who this Ece girl is,
the person you sent
the money to.
So we went back
to his Instagram.
We went to see
who he was following.
We ended up seeing Ece.
Yeah, that's--that's her.
So nothing really with Chris,
and they're
supposed to be close.
- Hmm.
- We reached out to her.
We haven't heard back.
- Have you ever talked to her
through social media?
- No, not that I can remember.
- So you've never communicated
with her one on one at all?
- No, I can't.
He said
she doesn't speak English.
- Interesting.
- So what if Chris is Ece?
- That could explain
not talking on the phone.
- Right.
- She definitely seems to have
some of the same hobbies.
She's into video games
and gaming.
♪ ♪
- How would you feel
about that?
♪ ♪
- I honestly don't know.
♪ ♪
That's not a deal breaker.
- Ooh.
- Oh.
- Okay, that's good.
- [chuckles]
- Now you have
a little crush on her.
- I just think
she's really pretty.
- She is really pretty.
I mean, if this is
who you're talking to--
- I wouldn't be upset.
- And obviously, you guys had
a strong connection for years.
- Have you dated girls also?
- Yes.
- Would you say that you
identify as bisexual?
- Yes.
- Does Chris know that?
- We have not
talked about that, no.
- Well, that's interesting.
So maybe if it is Ece
you've been talking to,
she was afraid to come clean
because she didn't think
you'd be comfortable
dating a girl.
So I don't know what to do.
I think, at this point,
we're kind of out of options
except to reach out
to Christoffer.
So what it's gonna,
I think, come down to is,
you're gonna need
to be prepared to give him
or her an ultimatum and say,
"Hey, if we're gonna keep being
in a relationship,
"I need to talk to you.
I need to know who you are.
And if not, are you prepared to
stop being in a relationship?"
- I don't know.
♪ ♪
I'm sorry.
I'm probably about to cry.
- You just--you need to do
what's best for you.
- You're kind of
losing yourself
to morph
into the interests of Chris.
I just wish that it felt like
he was making
as much of an effort for you.
- Yeah.
- This has been three years
of your life.
It's okay to be emotional
about that.
It's okay to be emotional about
the fact that you're giving,
giving, giving to someone
and having to accept
whatever they give you
in return,
even though
you know deep down inside,
it's not enough.
- Yeah.
- You deserve to get
what you want.
So I think
we should message him
and just say,
"Hey, we're helping Courtney.
"I know you guys haven't been
able to video chat in the past,
"but I think
now's the perfect time."
And see what he says.
- Okay.
- "Hey, Christoffer.
"This is Nev from
the MTV show 'Catfish.'
"We're helping
your girlfriend Courtney,
"hoping to help you guys
connect via Zoom
"and finally meet face-to-face.
Looking forward to hearing
back from you."
How's that?
- Sounds good.
- Sent.
Okay, cool.
♪ ♪
All right,
so now let's see what happens.
- How do you feel?
How are your anxiety levels
right now?
- They're peaking.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's the middle
of the night there.
I don't know
if he stays up late or not,
but let's assume he's sleeping.
Fingers crossed,
in the morning,
he gets the message,
and we wake up
to a message
from him saying,
"I'm available
whenever you want."
- I mean, I'm really nervous
either way.
- Courtney, you deserve more,
so let's get that for you.
- Thanks, guys.
- All right, Courtney.
Talk to you tomorrow.
- All right.
Talk to you guys tomorrow.
- Bye.
- I mean, Courtney
is holding it together,
but she is very emotional,
and this is the longest
relationship she's been in.
If this doesn't go well and we
find out that this person
has just sort of
been playing with her
and using her for money,
that is gonna be
very, very bad.
[dramatic music]
[phone chimes]
- Oh, my God.
Okay.
I have a DM from Courtney.
"Sorry to bother you right now.
"Chris messaged me,
and he said
"that he wouldn't video chat
without talking
to you guys first."
Okay, that's not a problem.
I know it's late Nev's time,
but I'm happy to talk to him.
Like, whatever it takes
to get him to show up tomorrow
is fine by me.
If we have to do
a little coercing...
[sighs]
Fine.
[phone chimes]
Ooh, I got something.
I got something.
I got something.
Okay.
"I was told to message you?"
Question mark.
Guess I just keep it friendly.
What the [bleep] do I say?
"Hey, my name is Kamie.
I host the show with Nev."
♪ ♪
"Courtney told me
you got our message
and wanted to chat,"
smiley face.
He said, "Yeah.
I don't know about the show
and don't want to know."
Hmm.
How would you feel
about jumping on Zoom
with us tomorrow
and keeping your camera off?
Once you're comfortable,
you could turn it on.
♪ ♪
He said, "Ha. No.
Stop pushing it."
What?
Not pushing,
just making convo.
♪ ♪
"You're pushing.
I don't like you very much."
What the hell?
This guy is just full
of [bleep] and making excuses.
But Courtney would be there.
She's really cool, by the way.
And she's very into you.
♪ ♪
"I'm not doing the show.
Don't contact me again.
Good night."
[bleep].
I think I just [bleep] this up.
♪ ♪
- All right, let's see.
What do we got?
Oh, whoa.
Wait a second.
Yesterday night, "Hey, Nev,
I just tried calling you.
"If you could get a hold of me
whenever you're able to,
I'd really appreciate it.
It's important."
And then Kamie.
Oh, boy.
Some drama seems to have
transpired overnight.
[dramatic music]
[computer chimes]
What did I miss?
- The tea is piping hot
this morning.
- What?
- So last night,
I had a DM from Courtney...
- Mm-hmm.
- Basically saying Chris says
that he doesn't want
to talk to us
because he doesn't know us,
and he doesn't want to talk
to any strangers.
- Sure.
- And Chris was asking
if he could talk to you or I
because he just wants
to be comfortable.
But I just told her like,
"Yeah, for sure.
Have him message me."
So he does.
- Oh!
Okay, wait.
Let's get Courtney in the Zoom
so you can fill us both in.
So you and Chris
have now been texting.
- Mm-hmm.
[computer chimes]
Oh.
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Hey.
- What's up, guys?
- There is a lot
going on right now.
- I'm just getting filled in
on last night's events.
- So Chris and I,
we had a conversation,
and I said,
"Hi, my name is Kamie.
I host the show with Nev.
"How would you feel
about jumping on Zoom
with us tomorrow and keeping
your camera off to start?"
And he said, "Ha. No.
Stop pushing it.
I don't like you very much."
And then he said,
"I'm not doing the show.
Don't contact me again.
Good night."
- Whoa.
- I didn't know what to do
at this point.
But then, I'm in the bed,
about to fall asleep,
and lo and behold, I get a DM.
He says, "I was told
to message you to talk
"a bit to get comfortable.
I don't want to talk
about the show."
So I'm like, "Okay, cool.
Let's talk
about something else."
And let me just say,
it's an interesting ride.
Let me scroll
all the way to the top.
- Oh, my God.
Are you kidding me?
- I said, "Let's talk
about something else.
I hear you're into anime.
I know a few good ones."
I lied.
I don't know a few good ones.
He said, "Yeah, anime,
games, books, nerd stuff."
Games, I know.
We start talking
about different games.
We start talking
about consoles.
Like, clearly, we get
into a full-ass convo.
And that was when we started
having a little vibe.
When it seemed like
we had gotten somewhere
and I was like,
"It was good talking to you."
And he was like, "Oh, okay.
Well, I'll talk to you later."
And then this morning,
he messages me, "Eh, hi."
So now I don't know
how to segue into this
because whether I'm talking to
Ece or Chris or someone else,
when it comes to getting them
on a Zoom,
clearly, any mention of it
is like, "No."
- Whenever I go about talking
about important things
with him,
I kind of, like,
ease it onto him.
- Courtney, no offense,
but, like, the gentle tactics
you've been using
might have been effective
in slowly
making him more comfortable,
but certainly hasn't
been enough to get him
to actually show his face yet.
So at some point,
we have to say,
"Hey, so today is the day.
"If you're not gonna do it,
then fine,
but if you are,
it has to be, like, now."
- Okay, let me try this.
Real talk--
let's talk about Courtney,
because that's no game.
That's real life.
- Nice.
[phone chimes]
- "Okay."
That's good.
That's a positive reaction
to talking about
the reality of his life.
- I said, "I obviously know
how she feels about you.
How do you feel about her?"
- Oh, okay.
[dramatic music]
- He said,
"I like her a lot and all."
- Aw.
- "I'm just not really sure
if I love, though."
- He's not very open
on the whole emotional stuff.
- "But don't get me wrong,
"it isn't just her,
it's in general.
"I don't think I'm capable
of the feeling.
But I do like her
a lot, I guess."
- I don't know what
to say to that.
- Could this just be
Ece not being comfortable
with her sexuality?
That's what it sounds
like to me.
[phone chimes]
"I'm not gonna be on camera."
"Courtney is open-minded,
"even if you're not
the guy in the picture.
Courtney's camera is on,
and she looks really pretty."
- You're so sweet.
- Listen,
we got to lure him in.
Said, "Sure she does."
- Aw.
- Okay, send me the link.
Send me the link, Nev.
We're in a sweet spot.
- All right, sent.
- Copy, paste.
Sent to Chris.
Ha!
♪ ♪
- They said, "Okay."
- They said, "Okay."
- Let's see if
they follow through.
- Are you okay?
- My anxiety is kind of up.
♪ ♪
[computer chimes]
- [synthesized voice] Hi.
- Hello?
Can you hear us?
If you can hear us,
maybe you could--
- Oh.
There he is.
- Yes, I can hear you.
I can hear everything.
- What is happening?
[uneasy music]
[bright chime]
- Oh.
- [synthesized voice] Hi.
- Hello?
Can you hear us?
If you can hear us,
maybe you could--
- Oh.
There he is.
- Hi.
Yes, I can hear you.
I can hear everything.
Sorry for being off camera.
I'm not talking.
I am not comfortable.
- Okay.
Well, hello.
I'm Kamie,
Nev, and Courtney.
- Hi.
- Hi, Courtney.
- Please just talk
without, like, robot sound.
- I don't like my voice.
- You have to say something,
eventually.
- This is the voice
I'm comfortable with.
- Ece, if that's you,
it's okay.
We're all open-minded here.
And Courtney
is okay with that.
- I am not an imposter.
I am not Ece.
I am Chris.
- Now that you're talking,
your voice is great.
- So, Chris,
so you are in Turkey
right now, right?
- Yeah.
- And are you also 22?
Right, that's how old
I think you said you were.
- Yeah.
- Courtney,
why don't you explain to Chris
why this is even happening?
- Well, long story short,
this is what Kamie and Nev do.
They help people
meet each other.
They make it easier.
- You've been asked for a call
for three years, though.
- Well, listen,
even talking to us
is a big step for you.
It was just as much
of a big step for Courtney
after, you know, three years
of you guys talking.
It's been a long time.
And all she's wanted is,
like, literally
this moment right now.
- Yeah.
The thing is, I don't like
my voice and the way I look
'cause, even though I'm a guy,
I have a condition,
basically
a hormonal imbalance,
which is why I sound, like,
softer than a normal guy would.
And I have more,
like, softer features.
So that's one of the reasons
why I didn't even want to call,
'cause even my friends
sometimes, like,
pick on me for this thing.
- Yeah.
But you know that Courtney
is not one of those people.
- Courtney is understanding
and loving.
- It's been, like, so long
that even
if I were comfortable enough
to share myself with her,
it would be just kind
of awkward for me.
- Also, what do you think?
Do you just see her
as like a cool friend
that you talk about stuff
that you guys
both like together with?
- Obviously, she's more
than a friend.
- Hmm.
- Chris, I think,
despite your insecurities,
you already know
that you're a likable person,
even if you may
not like yourself.
But you and I both know
what you have to do right now.
It's time to come on screen
to let Courtney see you.
- I know this was gonna come.
- Please.
- Okay.
[suspenseful music]
Hold on.
No, no.
It's good.
- You already know
that you're a likable person,
even
if you may not like yourself.
But it's time to come on screen
to let Courtney see you.
- Please.
[suspenseful music]
No, no.
It's good.
[quiet dramatic music]
- Yay!
- There you are.
So the picture you sent her,
that was you?
- Well, Courtney,
looking at Chris,
I'm going to bet
that you like what you see.
- Yeah.
I'm so happy.
I see nothing
but perfection right here.
So--you're so perfect.
- I mean, how does
that feel, Chris?
Like, this is the girl
who you've been talking to
for a long-ass time,
and you guys are really cool.
And she doesn't care
about any of the things
that you're
the most insecure about.
Like, she doesn't give
a [bleep] about hormones.
- I know.
- It's okay to be nervous.
- Chris, the question
that I have now is,
you know, normally someone
in your situation,
who is very private
with their identity,
we would assume
that you weren't the person
in that picture.
Since that was a picture
of you,
why then didn't you
at least feel comfortable
sending other photos?
That way, at least
you could control the pictures
that she sees of you
that you like,
that you feel good about.
- Have you always felt
like that?
- Have you had a relationship,
a girlfriend,
in person in Turkey?
So would it be fair to say
that physical intimacy
is not something
you're super experienced with?
- Yeah.
- I asked because
I know Courtney
is probably ready to get
on a plane tomorrow.
Are you nervous about that?
- Kind of.
- You know, you say that,
but I'm looking at Courtney,
and it's--it's not adding up.
- I only have two hands.
I'm pointing at myself
with all ten fingers.
- I'm just saying
I think that, for once,
you could maybe
give yourself permission
to not think
that someone doesn't like you,
because she does.
And you keep trying
to tell her she doesn't.
And she keeps trying
to tell you
that she does, so...
- Hey, Chris, who is Ece?
- Because Courtney mentioned
that she would send money
and
that it would get sent to Ece.
- Yeah.
- Why didn't you just have
Courtney send money to you?
- But you did give Courtney
some address.
- So what was the money for?
- Well, I think that they just
don't understand you.
But I know someone
who does understand you.
I do want for us to be able
to give you guys an opportunity
to talk without us.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Okay, cool.
- Hi.
- [sighs]
- I'm....
[pensive music]
- All is forgiven now.
So I wanted
to know something, though.
- Yeah.
- You brought up
the hormone imbalance.
Why were you afraid to tell me?
- You can trust me
with anything.
- I know.
- So does this mean that
we'll be able to talk more,
like on phone, video chat?
- All right, yay.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Well...
- I'd like that.
Would you be able to take me
to go pick some black roses?
- Yeah.
- Yep.
I knew about it
'cause I looked it up.
- That sounds really nice.
I'm just so excited.
[computer chimes]
Hi, Kamie.
- Oh, hi.
[computer chimes]
- Clearly, you guys were into
some kind of conversation.
[Chris chuckles]
- All right, so how was it
for you guys just now?
Did it feel good to chat
and hang out?
- It felt really great,
actually.
- Wow.
Very cool.
- That's amazing.
You know,
this is a good start.
And I'm very proud
of both of you
for coming on here and doing
what needed to be done.
- Thanks.
- It is refreshing to see
that you guys
can now talk to each other.
Chris, I think,
despite your insecurities,
you have a lot going for you.
And Courtney sees that.
We see that.
So hopefully, this experience
can be the beginning
of just starting to feel
a little bit better
about yourself
and a little bit
more confident.
And I am excited for the two
of you to continue talking,
and, hopefully, a trip
to Turkey
will be on the horizon
and you will finally meet
in real life someday soon.
- Yeah.
- That's the goal.
- All right.
Great meeting you.
And talk to you soon, Chris.
- Bye.
Thank you.
- Good luck.
- What do you think, Courtney?
- I'm so happy.
I had to suppress all of this.
Like, but finally!
- Always know that you deserve
everything that you want.
It will come from somebody.
It could be him.
It could not be him.
And that's okay.
- Either way, don't take
anything less
than what you deserve.
- Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Yeah, good luck, Courtney.
- ♪ Can you blame
my human nature ♪
♪ My human nature ♪
♪ My human nature ♪
- You're talking to someone
who was on "Catfish"
as the catfish.
- Yes.
- What?!
- Wow. This goes back
the last seven years.
- People are coming for you.
- It's time to get to
the bottom of who's doing this.
- It could literally be anyone.
- Hey.
- So you're the one.
[electronic music]
♪ ♪
- This person has been
on your show before.
Courtney met Chris,
who lived in Turkey, online.
- Oh, I'm in love with him.
- Have you sent gifts?
- I've sent
maybe around a grand.
- Courtney.
- She only has one picture
where he shows his face.
Why is this guy
cloaking his identity,
not just from her,
but from everyone?
- Oh, my God, I have a message.
- I can hear you.
- What is happening?
[dramatic musical sting]
- All right,
so let's text our girl.
It's time to get to work.
- Hey, guys,
welcome back to my channel.
We're gonna make some coffee.
Watch out, Ayesha Curry.
I'm coming for you.
[punchy music]
We're gonna put
some more oat milk inside.
Little razzle dazzle.
♪ ♪
Some vanilla creamer.
Bloop.
♪ ♪
Make sure that you
comment, like, and subscribe
to Kamie Catfish
Breakfast Tutorials
[computer chimes]
- Hello.
- Are you finally ready?
Jeez.
- I'm always ready.
- Sure you are.
All right, here we go.
An email from Courtney.
[soft dramatic music]
"Dear Nev and Kamie,
my name is Courtney.
"I'm 22, and I work
as a home health aide in Ohio.
"And, well, I guess
I might be getting catfished.
Three years ago,
I met Chris online."
♪ ♪
"I would never have guessed
this guy who lived in Turkey
"would turn out
to be the love of my life,
but that's exactly
what happened."
- If Courtney can get a trip
to Turkey out of this,
she should take it.
- "Chris is an artist,
he's smart,
"and he has
the best taste in music,
"anime, and video games,
but our relationship
hasn't exactly been smooth."
♪ ♪
"We've broken up
and gotten back together
"so many times
that I can't even keep track,
"but we started up again
this past November,
"and it's more serious
this time.
"I thought that would mean
"Chris would start
video chatting
"with me,
but nothing has changed.
- ♪ It's never enough,
never enough ♪
♪ Never enough,
ooh, doesn't... ♪
- "I try not to let myself
think about the fact
"that Chris could be a catfish,
but I've seen your show.
"If Chris is a catfish,
"I'm not sure
what that will mean for us,
"but I can't just keep
hoping for the best.
"It's time for me to find out
who Chris really is.
I hope you can help me.
Courtney."
- ♪ Love, love, love ♪
♪ What do I got
to do to get some love? ♪
♪ ♪
- Wow.
- Three years.
Let's text our girl Courtney.
Hey, Courtney.
It's Nev.
We just read your email
and wanna help.
- I don't want
to get false hope
that Chris is real,
but he could be real.
He could just be hesitant
about the long-distance
relationship, right?
- It's not impossible.
- Maybe he just
doesn't like FaceTiming.
I don't know.
- The good news is,
her eyes are open enough
to know that something's up.
[computer chimes]
Oh, hi.
- Hey.
- Hi, guys.
- Are you freaked out?
- Mm-hmm.
- [laughs]
Is it Nev?
Be honest.
- I mean, I've always wanted
to meet him,
just--I didn't--not like this.
- [chuckles]
Well, I'm flattered.
And it's nice to meet you.
Where are you in Ohio?
- I'm in Canton.
- You're a home health aide.
What does that mean?
- I take care of people
in their homes that
are developmentally disabled.
- Wow.
It's a very selfless job.
Good for you.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Anyway, tell us about Chris.
How did you guys meet?
What is going on?
- Okay.
Well, I love telling this story
because it's very strange.
We met on Facebook
but through roleplay.
- Ooh, fun, okay.
- I was on my roleplay account,
and the person
that my character was with
sent Chris's character
to try and kill my character,
and it didn't happen.
I ended up telling him
that I had feelings for him.
[soft dramatic music]
And we ended up
in a relationship.
- Wow, all right.
So when you met Chris,
it was as his character.
- Yes.
- Eventually, he sent me
a cosplay picture of himself.
That was the only
actual picture
I've seen with his face in it.
And the other picture I have,
he's wearing a mask.
- Well, wait a second.
You have now been friends with
his Facebook account, right?
- Yeah.
- Does he have more photos
of himself on there?
- No, it's mostly just his art.
- In three years, you've only
seen two pictures of him?
- Mm-hmm.
- You don't even really know
what he looks like.
- I know.
- Oh, my God.
- Can you show us
the one picture
you've seen of him?
- I sure can.
He said it was
a werewolf cosplay.
- What are you talking about?
There's nothing
werewolf about that.
He's not even in a costume.
- [chuckles]
- Did you want to see the mask?
- Sure, yeah.
- That's a mask.
- So, Courtney,
do you really think
Chris is the guy
in that one picture?
- I don't know.
I would like it to be him
because it is
a very attractive person
that he showed me.
- Sure.
- What do you know
about him personally?
- He lives in Izmit, Turkey,
with his mom.
He, to my knowledge,
is jobless.
He's an artist.
He does portraits,
anime characters,
stuff like that.
- How old is Chris?
- 22.
- Oh, so he's the same age.
What do you like about him?
- He's got amazing music taste.
90% of the bands
I listen to now
is because of him.
Same with
the animes that we watch.
I didn't get into anime
until he introduced me.
Anything that I'm interested in
now is because of him--
90% of
my personality basically.
- What?
- Wow.
- He's in
a completely different country,
has a whole different set
of interests,
and, like, that's really cool,
but what is it about him
that attracts you?
- It's really hard
to explain that.
I'd say it's just
how he makes me feel.
- I get it.
The connection that you have
is very meaningful.
- Yeah.
- Do you guys only talk
via Facebook?
- We eventually went
to WhatsApp.
- You talk on the phone?
- I've only spoken to him
on the phone once.
- What was the vibe?
- It felt like he didn't want
to be on the phone.
- Mm.
- It sounded like he would
rather be doing something else.
It just didn't last long.
- Was it, like,
a distinct male voice?
- To me, yeah, it sounded male.
- And did he have an accent?
- Yes.
I've tried
asking for more calls,
and he said no.
It's really disappointing.
- How can Chris justify
not video chatting you
over the last three years?
- He's just always busy,
and he's given me excuses
like his laptop's too old
and the time difference.
- How do you know
he's even in Turkey?
- I believe he is.
He's shown me Turkish movies,
shows, music.
Did you know that black roses
naturally grow there?
- Oh, I didn't know that.
You've really dove headfirst
into the culture.
- The horticulture.
- [chuckles]
Yeah, ever since I found out
that he's from Turkey,
I love Turkey.
A lot of times,
I would talk about
wanting to go to Turkey
to see him.
So just the idea of, like,
planning that is something
that makes me happy,
but I don't want to go
if he's not real.
- Right.
- Have you sent him gifts
or anything like that?
- Back in 2018,
I sent him an Odin bust.
[upbeat music]
- Wait.
- It's a mini statue.
- And did he ever say
he got this--the bust?
- Oh, yeah,
he sent me a picture of it.
- Oh.
- So then--okay,
so then it confirms
that he is, in fact, in Turkey.
- Promising.
- Wow, okay, interesting.
- And he sent me a gift.
That very hoodie right there.
- Is it a special hoodie?
- It's his.
- Oh, he sent you his hoodie.
- He sent you his hoodie.
- Yes, back in 2018.
- And it came from Turkey?
- Yes.
- No money exchanges
between the two of you?
- I have sent money
to his friend.
- Why did you send money
to his friend?
- So that she
could give it to him.
- How much?
- Over the course
of three years,
I've sent maybe around a grand.
- Courtney...
- [chuckles]
- That's a lot of money.
- Yeah.
- Courtney,
you see how this sounds?
- [chuckles]
- Who is his friend?
Who is this girl?
- It's Ece.
- And do you ever talk to her?
- I don't.
- Does her Cash App profile
have a photo?
Could you pull it up for us?
- I used to have it,
but then it disappeared.
- So she just wiped her page.
- Completely.
It doesn't exist anymore.
I've tried looking for it.
- Hmm.
- Oh, Courtney.
So after all this shadiness,
you still
have strong feelings?
How do you feel about him?
- Oh, I'm in love with him.
He is actually
my longest relationship.
- Really?
- Yes, we were engaged once.
- When was that?
- 2018.
- What is that?
- He sent me that picture.
- So he sent you
an anime picture
of a guy proposing.
- Yes.
- So that was the engagement?
- Yes.
And I went, "Yes."
And he went, "That was easy."
[chuckles]
- Wow.
- [laughs]
- I mean, look,
he sounds really cool, okay?
He's into cool stuff.
He's an artist,
and he lives in Turkey.
But come on,
the guy can video chat,
and he's had excuses not to
for the last three years.
There has to be
a reason for that.
That, coupled with the fact
that he's only ever sent you
one photo
and you only had
one weird phone call,
suggests to me that there's
a very, very good likelihood
he's not the guy in that photo.
- I'm ready to get answers.
- Mm-hmm.
- I have to find out
if it's actually him or not.
I just want it to be real.
- All right, so look,
send us anything you've got.
Let us do a little research,
and we'll see
if we can figure something out.
- Thank you, guys.
- Oh, boy.
What do you think?
- My biggest concern
is that Chris
doesn't really care
about her that much.
- Seems like he's a scammer
or at least he's hiding
something really big.
But it concerns me
that Courtney is so invested
that she's literally
changing her favorite things
to be his favorite things.
Her personality has now become
the things
that are his favorite things,
and that is
a slippery [bleep] slope.
[dramatic music]
[computer chimes]
- Something's going on here.
We need to help Courtney.
Some classic catfish red flags
with Chris.
- Mm-hmm.
- Won't video chat.
Only talked on the phone once.
Normally, I would say
that he says he lives in Turkey
is one of them, but that
actually seems to be true.
- I think that part is real.
- He either
directly asked for
or hinted towards
her sending him money,
which she has done,
but, of course,
he doesn't have
his own Cash App
or Venmo or wire transfer.
She has to send the money
to his friend.
- Always got to send the money
to the friend.
- Just shady.
- My biggest concern is that,
whether it's a guy
or a girl behind this,
their feelings do not match
Courtney's feelings.
Like, he sent her a meme
of an engagement,
and she took that
as a real life engagement.
- I know.
- She needs to be
kind of, like,
brought down
to Earth a little bit
because it's just not giving
what it's supposed
to have been gave.
- All right, well,
let's do some research.
Let's see if we got
an email here.
All right,
here's what I've got for you.
His name is Chris [bleep].
He's 22 and lives in Izmit,
Turkey, with his family.
Here's his phone number,
his personal Facebook page.
The girl I sent money to
is named Ece.
All I have on her
is just her name.
And then the two pictures.
- Okay.
- So let's go
to his Facebook page.
All right, so here
it's Christoffer [bleep]
or Narperist,
which seems to be,
like, the name he uses--
a sad artist.
- One post.
Or is his page locked up?
- I don't know.
Here's his art.
[soft dramatic music]
Pretty good artist.
♪ ♪
Wait, look.
He has another page
for his art.
The Narperist.
Courtney never mentioned
he had
an art page on Facebook.
Oh, and here's
his phone number,
which is the same
as the number she gave us.
Here's an Instagram.
She didn't mention that,
but all this stuff
is all kind of available
to see on his artist account.
He's got a story.
Okay.
I mean,
there's a subtitle there
that looks to be Turkish.
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
He has a TikTok.
I'll look it up.
Found it.
It says artist,
he, him, age 22.
- But there's no videos,
obviously, right?
- There's videos.
♪ ♪
Him drawing.
- But is it just his hand?
- Yeah.
- All these
social media profiles,
and there still aren't
any more pictures of him.
It's all just
the same art stuff.
So that doesn't help.
Now let's do
a quick image search
of that one picture
where he shows his face
just in case
something comes up.
♪ ♪
No.
And then here's
the mask picture.
♪ ♪
No.
What else do we have here?
We have his phone number.
I don't think we can run
international phone numbers.
There's nothing else to search.
- Well, what about
searching for Ece,
the friend that Courtney
has been sending the money to
on Christoffer's friend list?
- Okay.
♪ ♪
Negative.
Maybe on his Instagram.
♪ ♪
Ece!
- [gasps]
Aha!
- Who is this?
Could this be our girl?
♪ ♪
Well, she's into
video games and gaming.
- Mm.
- I just want to see
if there's any
of her with Christoffer.
- Yeah, aren't they supposed
to be, like, best friends?
- Yeah, there are no pictures
of them together.
All right, well,
let's message her.
- What if Chris is Ece?
- She definitely seems to have
some of the same hobbies.
- Yeah.
- What if Ece's trying
to explore her sexuality?
I mean,
it might be a tough thing
to do in the Turkish culture.
- Right.
- Think about this:
you cannot find a picture
of him on the Internet.
Why is this guy
cloaking his identity,
not just from her,
but from everyone?
- Well, how about the fact that
they finally get on the phone
once over the course
of three years,
and she admits that he sounded
like he would rather
be somewhere else?
- Well, to me, that sounds
like it was not him.
He got somebody
to be his voice for 30 minutes.
- Or she got somebody.
- Right.
I think it's her.
Ece is in love with Courtney
but too afraid to admit it.
- Courtney could be in
for a big disappointment.
- All right, let's get
Courtney on the horn
for an update
on what we found.
- If it's this this girl Ece
that she paid the $1,000 to,
this could turn ugly
really fast.
[computer chimes]
- Hey, what's up, Courtney?
Who you got there?
- Oh, I have a unicorn.
- Is that your therapy animal?
- Mm-hmm.
- Cute.
- All right, well, look,
we did some research.
We're trying to see
what we can find.
So let me share
my screen with you
so you can see what we found.
As you already knew,
he has his Facebook page,
his personal one
and his art one.
- Oh.
- Does that surprise you?
- I just didn't know.
- Well, on that page,
his phone number
is the same that you have.
He's got a TikTok.
Did you know he has a TikTok?
- No.
- And the big thing we found
on his art page
is a link to his Instagram.
Did you know
he has an Instagram?
- I did not.
- The weird thing is, all
of his social media accounts
have the same content.
They're all basically
his work as an artist,
but none of them
have any photos of him.
Whoever he is,
he's doing a very good job
of keeping
his identity a secret.
♪ ♪
The fact that you even have
a photo of him is remarkable
because there's no photos
of him
on any of his many
social media profiles.
But at the same time,
he's got his phone number
and his email,
and you can contact him
very easily
if you want
to commission artwork,
so he's not against
putting himself out there.
He just doesn't want anyone
to know what he looks like.
- Hmm.
- And so then we were trying
to find out
who this Ece girl is,
the person you sent
the money to.
So we went back
to his Instagram.
We went to see
who he was following.
We ended up seeing Ece.
Yeah, that's--that's her.
So nothing really with Chris,
and they're
supposed to be close.
- Hmm.
- We reached out to her.
We haven't heard back.
- Have you ever talked to her
through social media?
- No, not that I can remember.
- So you've never communicated
with her one on one at all?
- No, I can't.
He said
she doesn't speak English.
- Interesting.
- So what if Chris is Ece?
- That could explain
not talking on the phone.
- Right.
- She definitely seems to have
some of the same hobbies.
She's into video games
and gaming.
♪ ♪
- How would you feel
about that?
♪ ♪
- I honestly don't know.
♪ ♪
That's not a deal breaker.
- Ooh.
- Oh.
- Okay, that's good.
- [chuckles]
- Now you have
a little crush on her.
- I just think
she's really pretty.
- She is really pretty.
I mean, if this is
who you're talking to--
- I wouldn't be upset.
- And obviously, you guys had
a strong connection for years.
- Have you dated girls also?
- Yes.
- Would you say that you
identify as bisexual?
- Yes.
- Does Chris know that?
- We have not
talked about that, no.
- Well, that's interesting.
So maybe if it is Ece
you've been talking to,
she was afraid to come clean
because she didn't think
you'd be comfortable
dating a girl.
So I don't know what to do.
I think, at this point,
we're kind of out of options
except to reach out
to Christoffer.
So what it's gonna,
I think, come down to is,
you're gonna need
to be prepared to give him
or her an ultimatum and say,
"Hey, if we're gonna keep being
in a relationship,
"I need to talk to you.
I need to know who you are.
And if not, are you prepared to
stop being in a relationship?"
- I don't know.
♪ ♪
I'm sorry.
I'm probably about to cry.
- You just--you need to do
what's best for you.
- You're kind of
losing yourself
to morph
into the interests of Chris.
I just wish that it felt like
he was making
as much of an effort for you.
- Yeah.
- This has been three years
of your life.
It's okay to be emotional
about that.
It's okay to be emotional about
the fact that you're giving,
giving, giving to someone
and having to accept
whatever they give you
in return,
even though
you know deep down inside,
it's not enough.
- Yeah.
- You deserve to get
what you want.
So I think
we should message him
and just say,
"Hey, we're helping Courtney.
"I know you guys haven't been
able to video chat in the past,
"but I think
now's the perfect time."
And see what he says.
- Okay.
- "Hey, Christoffer.
"This is Nev from
the MTV show 'Catfish.'
"We're helping
your girlfriend Courtney,
"hoping to help you guys
connect via Zoom
"and finally meet face-to-face.
Looking forward to hearing
back from you."
How's that?
- Sounds good.
- Sent.
Okay, cool.
♪ ♪
All right,
so now let's see what happens.
- How do you feel?
How are your anxiety levels
right now?
- They're peaking.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's the middle
of the night there.
I don't know
if he stays up late or not,
but let's assume he's sleeping.
Fingers crossed,
in the morning,
he gets the message,
and we wake up
to a message
from him saying,
"I'm available
whenever you want."
- I mean, I'm really nervous
either way.
- Courtney, you deserve more,
so let's get that for you.
- Thanks, guys.
- All right, Courtney.
Talk to you tomorrow.
- All right.
Talk to you guys tomorrow.
- Bye.
- I mean, Courtney
is holding it together,
but she is very emotional,
and this is the longest
relationship she's been in.
If this doesn't go well and we
find out that this person
has just sort of
been playing with her
and using her for money,
that is gonna be
very, very bad.
[dramatic music]
[phone chimes]
- Oh, my God.
Okay.
I have a DM from Courtney.
"Sorry to bother you right now.
"Chris messaged me,
and he said
"that he wouldn't video chat
without talking
to you guys first."
Okay, that's not a problem.
I know it's late Nev's time,
but I'm happy to talk to him.
Like, whatever it takes
to get him to show up tomorrow
is fine by me.
If we have to do
a little coercing...
[sighs]
Fine.
[phone chimes]
Ooh, I got something.
I got something.
I got something.
Okay.
"I was told to message you?"
Question mark.
Guess I just keep it friendly.
What the [bleep] do I say?
"Hey, my name is Kamie.
I host the show with Nev."
♪ ♪
"Courtney told me
you got our message
and wanted to chat,"
smiley face.
He said, "Yeah.
I don't know about the show
and don't want to know."
Hmm.
How would you feel
about jumping on Zoom
with us tomorrow
and keeping your camera off?
Once you're comfortable,
you could turn it on.
♪ ♪
He said, "Ha. No.
Stop pushing it."
What?
Not pushing,
just making convo.
♪ ♪
"You're pushing.
I don't like you very much."
What the hell?
This guy is just full
of [bleep] and making excuses.
But Courtney would be there.
She's really cool, by the way.
And she's very into you.
♪ ♪
"I'm not doing the show.
Don't contact me again.
Good night."
[bleep].
I think I just [bleep] this up.
♪ ♪
- All right, let's see.
What do we got?
Oh, whoa.
Wait a second.
Yesterday night, "Hey, Nev,
I just tried calling you.
"If you could get a hold of me
whenever you're able to,
I'd really appreciate it.
It's important."
And then Kamie.
Oh, boy.
Some drama seems to have
transpired overnight.
[dramatic music]
[computer chimes]
What did I miss?
- The tea is piping hot
this morning.
- What?
- So last night,
I had a DM from Courtney...
- Mm-hmm.
- Basically saying Chris says
that he doesn't want
to talk to us
because he doesn't know us,
and he doesn't want to talk
to any strangers.
- Sure.
- And Chris was asking
if he could talk to you or I
because he just wants
to be comfortable.
But I just told her like,
"Yeah, for sure.
Have him message me."
So he does.
- Oh!
Okay, wait.
Let's get Courtney in the Zoom
so you can fill us both in.
So you and Chris
have now been texting.
- Mm-hmm.
[computer chimes]
Oh.
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Hey.
- What's up, guys?
- There is a lot
going on right now.
- I'm just getting filled in
on last night's events.
- So Chris and I,
we had a conversation,
and I said,
"Hi, my name is Kamie.
I host the show with Nev.
"How would you feel
about jumping on Zoom
with us tomorrow and keeping
your camera off to start?"
And he said, "Ha. No.
Stop pushing it.
I don't like you very much."
And then he said,
"I'm not doing the show.
Don't contact me again.
Good night."
- Whoa.
- I didn't know what to do
at this point.
But then, I'm in the bed,
about to fall asleep,
and lo and behold, I get a DM.
He says, "I was told
to message you to talk
"a bit to get comfortable.
I don't want to talk
about the show."
So I'm like, "Okay, cool.
Let's talk
about something else."
And let me just say,
it's an interesting ride.
Let me scroll
all the way to the top.
- Oh, my God.
Are you kidding me?
- I said, "Let's talk
about something else.
I hear you're into anime.
I know a few good ones."
I lied.
I don't know a few good ones.
He said, "Yeah, anime,
games, books, nerd stuff."
Games, I know.
We start talking
about different games.
We start talking
about consoles.
Like, clearly, we get
into a full-ass convo.
And that was when we started
having a little vibe.
When it seemed like
we had gotten somewhere
and I was like,
"It was good talking to you."
And he was like, "Oh, okay.
Well, I'll talk to you later."
And then this morning,
he messages me, "Eh, hi."
So now I don't know
how to segue into this
because whether I'm talking to
Ece or Chris or someone else,
when it comes to getting them
on a Zoom,
clearly, any mention of it
is like, "No."
- Whenever I go about talking
about important things
with him,
I kind of, like,
ease it onto him.
- Courtney, no offense,
but, like, the gentle tactics
you've been using
might have been effective
in slowly
making him more comfortable,
but certainly hasn't
been enough to get him
to actually show his face yet.
So at some point,
we have to say,
"Hey, so today is the day.
"If you're not gonna do it,
then fine,
but if you are,
it has to be, like, now."
- Okay, let me try this.
Real talk--
let's talk about Courtney,
because that's no game.
That's real life.
- Nice.
[phone chimes]
- "Okay."
That's good.
That's a positive reaction
to talking about
the reality of his life.
- I said, "I obviously know
how she feels about you.
How do you feel about her?"
- Oh, okay.
[dramatic music]
- He said,
"I like her a lot and all."
- Aw.
- "I'm just not really sure
if I love, though."
- He's not very open
on the whole emotional stuff.
- "But don't get me wrong,
"it isn't just her,
it's in general.
"I don't think I'm capable
of the feeling.
But I do like her
a lot, I guess."
- I don't know what
to say to that.
- Could this just be
Ece not being comfortable
with her sexuality?
That's what it sounds
like to me.
[phone chimes]
"I'm not gonna be on camera."
"Courtney is open-minded,
"even if you're not
the guy in the picture.
Courtney's camera is on,
and she looks really pretty."
- You're so sweet.
- Listen,
we got to lure him in.
Said, "Sure she does."
- Aw.
- Okay, send me the link.
Send me the link, Nev.
We're in a sweet spot.
- All right, sent.
- Copy, paste.
Sent to Chris.
Ha!
♪ ♪
- They said, "Okay."
- They said, "Okay."
- Let's see if
they follow through.
- Are you okay?
- My anxiety is kind of up.
♪ ♪
[computer chimes]
- [synthesized voice] Hi.
- Hello?
Can you hear us?
If you can hear us,
maybe you could--
- Oh.
There he is.
- Yes, I can hear you.
I can hear everything.
- What is happening?
[uneasy music]
[bright chime]
- Oh.
- [synthesized voice] Hi.
- Hello?
Can you hear us?
If you can hear us,
maybe you could--
- Oh.
There he is.
- Hi.
Yes, I can hear you.
I can hear everything.
Sorry for being off camera.
I'm not talking.
I am not comfortable.
- Okay.
Well, hello.
I'm Kamie,
Nev, and Courtney.
- Hi.
- Hi, Courtney.
- Please just talk
without, like, robot sound.
- I don't like my voice.
- You have to say something,
eventually.
- This is the voice
I'm comfortable with.
- Ece, if that's you,
it's okay.
We're all open-minded here.
And Courtney
is okay with that.
- I am not an imposter.
I am not Ece.
I am Chris.
- Now that you're talking,
your voice is great.
- So, Chris,
so you are in Turkey
right now, right?
- Yeah.
- And are you also 22?
Right, that's how old
I think you said you were.
- Yeah.
- Courtney,
why don't you explain to Chris
why this is even happening?
- Well, long story short,
this is what Kamie and Nev do.
They help people
meet each other.
They make it easier.
- You've been asked for a call
for three years, though.
- Well, listen,
even talking to us
is a big step for you.
It was just as much
of a big step for Courtney
after, you know, three years
of you guys talking.
It's been a long time.
And all she's wanted is,
like, literally
this moment right now.
- Yeah.
The thing is, I don't like
my voice and the way I look
'cause, even though I'm a guy,
I have a condition,
basically
a hormonal imbalance,
which is why I sound, like,
softer than a normal guy would.
And I have more,
like, softer features.
So that's one of the reasons
why I didn't even want to call,
'cause even my friends
sometimes, like,
pick on me for this thing.
- Yeah.
But you know that Courtney
is not one of those people.
- Courtney is understanding
and loving.
- It's been, like, so long
that even
if I were comfortable enough
to share myself with her,
it would be just kind
of awkward for me.
- Also, what do you think?
Do you just see her
as like a cool friend
that you talk about stuff
that you guys
both like together with?
- Obviously, she's more
than a friend.
- Hmm.
- Chris, I think,
despite your insecurities,
you already know
that you're a likable person,
even if you may
not like yourself.
But you and I both know
what you have to do right now.
It's time to come on screen
to let Courtney see you.
- I know this was gonna come.
- Please.
- Okay.
[suspenseful music]
Hold on.
No, no.
It's good.
- You already know
that you're a likable person,
even
if you may not like yourself.
But it's time to come on screen
to let Courtney see you.
- Please.
[suspenseful music]
No, no.
It's good.
[quiet dramatic music]
- Yay!
- There you are.
So the picture you sent her,
that was you?
- Well, Courtney,
looking at Chris,
I'm going to bet
that you like what you see.
- Yeah.
I'm so happy.
I see nothing
but perfection right here.
So--you're so perfect.
- I mean, how does
that feel, Chris?
Like, this is the girl
who you've been talking to
for a long-ass time,
and you guys are really cool.
And she doesn't care
about any of the things
that you're
the most insecure about.
Like, she doesn't give
a [bleep] about hormones.
- I know.
- It's okay to be nervous.
- Chris, the question
that I have now is,
you know, normally someone
in your situation,
who is very private
with their identity,
we would assume
that you weren't the person
in that picture.
Since that was a picture
of you,
why then didn't you
at least feel comfortable
sending other photos?
That way, at least
you could control the pictures
that she sees of you
that you like,
that you feel good about.
- Have you always felt
like that?
- Have you had a relationship,
a girlfriend,
in person in Turkey?
So would it be fair to say
that physical intimacy
is not something
you're super experienced with?
- Yeah.
- I asked because
I know Courtney
is probably ready to get
on a plane tomorrow.
Are you nervous about that?
- Kind of.
- You know, you say that,
but I'm looking at Courtney,
and it's--it's not adding up.
- I only have two hands.
I'm pointing at myself
with all ten fingers.
- I'm just saying
I think that, for once,
you could maybe
give yourself permission
to not think
that someone doesn't like you,
because she does.
And you keep trying
to tell her she doesn't.
And she keeps trying
to tell you
that she does, so...
- Hey, Chris, who is Ece?
- Because Courtney mentioned
that she would send money
and
that it would get sent to Ece.
- Yeah.
- Why didn't you just have
Courtney send money to you?
- But you did give Courtney
some address.
- So what was the money for?
- Well, I think that they just
don't understand you.
But I know someone
who does understand you.
I do want for us to be able
to give you guys an opportunity
to talk without us.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Okay, cool.
- Hi.
- [sighs]
- I'm....
[pensive music]
- All is forgiven now.
So I wanted
to know something, though.
- Yeah.
- You brought up
the hormone imbalance.
Why were you afraid to tell me?
- You can trust me
with anything.
- I know.
- So does this mean that
we'll be able to talk more,
like on phone, video chat?
- All right, yay.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Well...
- I'd like that.
Would you be able to take me
to go pick some black roses?
- Yeah.
- Yep.
I knew about it
'cause I looked it up.
- That sounds really nice.
I'm just so excited.
[computer chimes]
Hi, Kamie.
- Oh, hi.
[computer chimes]
- Clearly, you guys were into
some kind of conversation.
[Chris chuckles]
- All right, so how was it
for you guys just now?
Did it feel good to chat
and hang out?
- It felt really great,
actually.
- Wow.
Very cool.
- That's amazing.
You know,
this is a good start.
And I'm very proud
of both of you
for coming on here and doing
what needed to be done.
- Thanks.
- It is refreshing to see
that you guys
can now talk to each other.
Chris, I think,
despite your insecurities,
you have a lot going for you.
And Courtney sees that.
We see that.
So hopefully, this experience
can be the beginning
of just starting to feel
a little bit better
about yourself
and a little bit
more confident.
And I am excited for the two
of you to continue talking,
and, hopefully, a trip
to Turkey
will be on the horizon
and you will finally meet
in real life someday soon.
- Yeah.
- That's the goal.
- All right.
Great meeting you.
And talk to you soon, Chris.
- Bye.
Thank you.
- Good luck.
- What do you think, Courtney?
- I'm so happy.
I had to suppress all of this.
Like, but finally!
- Always know that you deserve
everything that you want.
It will come from somebody.
It could be him.
It could not be him.
And that's okay.
- Either way, don't take
anything less
than what you deserve.
- Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Yeah, good luck, Courtney.
- ♪ Can you blame
my human nature ♪
♪ My human nature ♪
♪ My human nature ♪
- You're talking to someone
who was on "Catfish"
as the catfish.
- Yes.
- What?!
- Wow. This goes back
the last seven years.
- People are coming for you.
- It's time to get to
the bottom of who's doing this.
- It could literally be anyone.
- Hey.
- So you're the one.
[electronic music]
♪ ♪
- This person has been
on your show before.