Manti Te’o’s Hoaxer In Love, Reveals Why He ‘Killed’ Lennay Kekua
Manti Te'o's fake "girlfriend" was probably one of the most bizarre sports related news there is today. Now, the person behind the hoax speaks up and revealed why he had to kill the fake identity.
RonaiahTuiasosopo, the man who pretended to be "Lennay Kekua" did an interview with Dr.Phil and admits that he fell in love with the Notre Dame football star. McGraw told on NBC's "Today" that the man behind Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend identity was indeed romantically in love with the athlete.
"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,'" Dr. Phil shared.
Tuiasosopo admits to McGraw that his feelings for the football star were genuine and that he wanted to come clean. But given circumstances that he is a guy, and that Manti had feelings not for him but for "Lennay," the circumstances aggravated.
But in the end, Ronaiah said that he had to admit it and "kill" Lennay Kekua." The relationship ended when "Lennay" died of leukemia before Manti was able to meet her.
"I wanted to end it because after everything I had gone through, I finally realized that I just had to move on with my life,'' Tuiasosopo said.
In an interview with Katie Couric last week, Te'o said that Tuiasosopo called him on January 16 to make the confession. Ronaiah's lawyer claimed that he used a falsetto voice in order to impersonate "Lennay."
In a few voice mails released by Te'o, Tuiasosopo can be heard saying sweetly, "Hey babe, I'm just calling to say goodnight. I love you."
"When people are saying it was a cruel joke, it was never intended as a joke, never intended to be funny. The truth of it is, I grew feelings, I grew emotions that sooner or later I couldn't control anymore," Ronaiah revealed to Dr. Phil.