Teacher Finds Out His Online Girlfriend Is Actually His Flatmate

When a man decided to venture into the world of online dating, he never expected to be catfished—much less by someone he knew personally. But that's exactly what happened when he caught his flatmate red-handed.

A Wisconsin native that has been living in West London for over a decade met a woman online. She went by the name 'Hannah,' and Mario was excited to be back in the dating game.

Mario, who made some bad decisions after a divorce 6 years ago, got sober and lost 40lbs in the process of improving his life. But he never imagined that he would be at the center of catfishing drama.

STARRING ON "CATFISH UK"

The drama landed him on an episode of "Catfish UK" this month. Mario detailed that he spoke to Hannah, who he described as "beautiful, kind and compassionate" for eight months.

Mario became suspicious because Hannah repeatedly called off plans to meet in person. In addition to that, she never said yes to video calls. She had a long list of excuses, but eventually, Mario decided to call in professional help.

SUSPICIOUS INFORMATION

He turned to "Catfish" hosts Oobah Butler and Julie Adenuga. He told them that he believed Hanah was real because she shared her West London postcode with him, but the hosts searched deeper and found a few suspicious pieces of information.

They flagged some of the Instagram photos she claimed belonged to her. They discovered that the photos actually belonged to a New Zealand woman by doing a reverse image search.

FEELING FOOLISH

They also checked Hannah's postcode on the electoral register, but her name was nowhere to be seen. When they shared the news with Mario, he felt "foolish."

"Catfish" host Oobah questioned Hannah via phone and informed her about the television program to get to the bottom of things. She dropped the call instantly but also reached out to Mario.

FINDING OUT THE TRUTH

She texted him: "Catfish have just been in touch - if I meet you, do you promise I won't lose you?" He agreed to meet her and was shocked to find out that she was closer than he ever thought possible.

Hannah was actually Mario's flatmate Courtney! He was upset and said: "Out of everyone in the world, I didn't expect you. It's not real, this is way too much to take in."

THE REASON SHE CATFISHED HER FLATMATE

Courtney explained that she wanted a chance "to see what it would be like to be his girlfriend because [she was] desperately in love with him. She acknowledged that her actions were wrong, but she said her feelings were "real."

Mario thought things over while staying at a friend's place. While he could forgive her and remain friends, he did not see a romantic future for them. He said her dishonesty was too much for him, and there would be no trust in their relationship.

ONLINE DATING TIPS

Despite these unfortunate endings and the alarming rate of catfishing worldwide, 91 million people are still on dating websites and apps! Some science-based tips could potentially assist those brave enough to tackle online dating.

Dr. Xand van Tulleken advised people to pay attention to their usernames. He shared that picking a username that begins with a letter that is high up in the alphabet will help them find a match quicker.

TRUSTING SCIENCE

He stated that people subconsciously link these top initials with all kinds of academic and professional success. "I'd have to stop being Xand and go back to being Alex for a while," he offered as an example.

Van Tulleken also suggested that showing an online companion your personality traits is much better than telling them about them. For example, be funny and don't just say that you are. It seems easier said than done, but according to science, it works!