Hoax, Relationships | featured news

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo fell in love with Manti Te'o and said all his energy went into pretending to be the woman the Notre Dame linebacker came to know as Lennay Kekua. Tuiasosopo, the 22-year-old mastermind of the elaborate hoax that embarrassed Te'o and left him looking gullible, spoke publicly for the first time in an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw for the "Dr. Phil Show," the first part of which aired Thursday.

Former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o would be hard-pressed for relief from a civil suit. Manti Te'o says he has received a confession from Ronaiah Tuiasosopo for leading the former Notre Dame linebacker to believe he was in a relationship with a non-existent woman, but that might be all he gets from Tuiasosopo.

How could someone be fooled by a fake girlfriend for months? Barb Sluppick, who has operated the RomanceScams.org website for the past decade, knows the answer to that question all too well.

A new Southern California character has emerged in the hoax involving Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o. A deadspin.com report Wednesday linked a Palmdale man to the hoax that fooled media outlets across the nation. The man allegedly was involved in creating a fake Twitter account for a woman who never existed and linked her with the Heisman Trophy runner-up, who spoke repeatedly to the media about her, her illness and supposed death.