Dr. Phil Teaser
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Dr. Phil chat about the Manti Te'o hoax. He revealed he was "deeply, romantically in love†with Notre Dame’s biggest football star, and pretended to be a woman stricken with leukemia.
He was "deeply, romantically in love†with Notre Dame’s biggest football star â€" and he showed it by pretending to be a woman stricken with leukemia.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo revealed in an interview with TV shrink Dr. Phil that his years-long deception of Manti Te’o was the result of an unhealthy obsession with the Heisman Trophy finalist.
“Here we have a young man who fell deeply, romantically in love,†Phil McGraw told NBC News.
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The TV personality pressed Tuiasosopo about his sexuality and the former high school football player admitted he was gay â€" sort of.
“I said, ‘Are you then therefore gay?’ And he said, ‘When you put it that way, yes,’†Dr. Phil recalled.
“Then he caught himself and said, ‘I am confused.’â€
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Tuiasosopo, speaking publicly for the first time since the bizarre scandal broke, said pretending to be Te’o’s girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, became overwhelming.
“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. . . . I had to start living and let this go,†he said.
But Tuiasosopo had trouble letting go.
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After he killed off the Kekua character in September, he tried to resurrect her in December â€" concocting a bizarre story involving Kekua going underground to dodge drug dealers.
That desperate move finally raised red flags for the hopeless romantic Te’o, and soon Notre Dame started an investigation into what came to be known as the “No Such Dame†affair.
Tuiasosopo, 22, also said it was him, and only him, pretending to be Kekua â€" his online creation who graduated from Stanford and barely survived a car accident only to discover she had leukemia.
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Dr. Phil said that Te’o “absolutely, unequivocally†was not involved in the fraudulent narrative that boosted his profile.
Yet Tuiasosopo â€" much like Te’o after he learned of the trickery â€" still referred to Kekua as if she were real.
“There were many times Manti and Lennay had broken up, but something would bring them back together,†Tuiasosopo said. “Whether it was something going on in his life or in Lennay’s life â€" in this case in my life.â€
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The talk show host also hinted that Tuiasosopo’s elaborate hoax was the result, in part, of severe mental problems.
“Ronaiah had a number of life experiences that damaged this young man in some very serious ways,†Dr. Phil said.
The Tuiasosopo family lawyer, Milton Grimes, also indicated that Tuiasosopo deserved pity.
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“This wasn’t a prank to make fun,†Grimes told the Daily News. “It was establishing a communication with someone. . . . It was a person with a troubled existence trying to reach out and communicate and have a relationship.â€
The sit-down with Tuiasosopo â€" set to air Thursday and Friday â€" comes a week after Te’o opened up to Katie Couric.
In that heart-to-heart Te’o professed ignorance that he was being played for a fool. He also told her Tuiasosopo’s love will not be reciprocated by him.
The star player for the Irish famously scoffed at Couric when she asked if he was gay.
“Far from it. Faaaaaaaaar from it,†Te’o said.
sbrown@nydailynews.com
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