Falling in love with someone you’ve never met makes dating extra hard. They send each other love messages, take adorable selfies, and have deep phone talks.
Then the details get suspect. One of them notices that their beloved can’t make video chat or meet because their camera is damaged or they’re always busy with work for weeks, months, or years.
“Catfish: The TV Show” helps people in questionable online relationships determine if one or both are being catfished. Each episode is an emotional rollercoaster as the hosts reveal shocking secrets that upend relationships.
The show has captivated audiences since its 2012 MTV debut. Here are some startling show facts. Let’s explore “Catfish: The TV Show” trivia that diehard fans may not know.
People loved “Catfish,” a 2010 documentary. The film stars catfished Nev Schulman. In 2020, Schulman told Page Six, “Catfished was the best thing that ever happened to me.” “A lot of people haven’t seen the documentary or don’t even realise that I’m hosting it because I got catfished in a pretty dramatic fashion back in 2008.”
Schulman fell for a Facebook woman in the film. He thought her name was Megan and that her younger sister Abby was an art prodigy. He drove from New York to Michigan to meet Megan and her family, but they didn’t exist. Angela, a married 40-year-old, invented it. Vince told Schulman a story that inspired the film and TV series, as well as the phrase “catfishing.”
He stated inactive live cod delivered from Asia to North America would become mushy and disgusting. Catfish in the tanks nip their tails, keeping them busy. “Dull and boring if we didn’t have someone biting at our fins,” he said, comparing Angela to a catfish. Henry W. Nevinson’s 1913 book “Essays in Rebellion” resembles Vince’s account.
Max and Nev are long-time co-hosts.
Max Joseph and Nev Schulman get along well. They seemed to understand one another after solving case after case. They worked well together because they had known one another for years before the show. Joseph stated in a 2013 Female First interview, “Nev and his older brother, Rel, and I have known each other since we were 14… We’ve always collaborated creatively.”
Schulman called Joseph for help with the show because they had worked together on films. MTV picked up the pilot after they enjoyed it.
After seven seasons, Joseph tweeted goodbye in August 2018. He described working on the show as “one of the most remarkable experiences,” and he and Schulman “had become brothers.”.
Catfish regularly approach the show.
Contrary to popular belief, the catfishee initiates contact with the show to verify the legitimacy of their online relationship. Catfish regularly approach the show. They want to admit their lies, to apologise or release the burden. Max Joseph told Female First in 2013 that catfish can start afresh after confessing.
Hollywood.com interviewed six cast members from different episodes and found that the catfish contacted MTV first in all but one case.
One anonymous catfish added, “You know how they say [the catfishee] reached out? That isn’t accurate, so could we consider omitting it? I contacted them.”
“Catfish: The TV Show” catfishing us? False. Like other reality shows, this one undergoes editing. They modify certain facts but preserve most of the stories. Because it’s more dramatic, producers start episodes from the victim’s perspective. It lets hosts and viewers learn the catfish’s identity gradually.
The show doesn’t follow a script, so the hosts must improvise.
Some people believe that the show follows a script. Some stories include unexpected plot twists and unusual exchanges. The hosts and cast say whatever they want, as the show isn’t written.
In 2021, Hidden Remote interviewed co-host Kamie Crawford. “I adore seeing tweets like, ‘Kamie and Nev are so good at reading their scripts.'” “What? Really? You can’t write this. Scriptless. There’s no telling what will happen.”
Producers know each story’s specifics, but hosts and viewers must do their research. “We know as much as the viewers,” Crawford added. “The email was our first introduction to the situation. As we read that email, we usually don’t know anything.”
Investigations took longer than expected.
Investigations are interesting. The hosts examine catfish profiles and solve the case in minutes. The episode only shortens the investigations, which take longer than expected. “It takes forever,” Kamie Crawford told Hidden Remote in 2021. “First conversations with hopefuls usually last two and a half hours. We then spend several hours researching. We work late sometimes.”
Editing reality TV is beneficial here. Watching the hosts’ discoveries in a few minutes rather than several hours is more exciting. “People assume everything occurs so fast,” Crawford added. “‘Oh, what are the odds that you send a text and five seconds later [get] the first response?’ “You don’t understand,” I say. It appears fast but isn’t.”
The show’s participants sign a waiver.
“Catfish: The TV Show” is selective. If the show were not selective, people could get confused or hurt. Before performing on the show, cast members sign a disclaimer to have their faces unblurred. “There is a private investigator who runs a background check,” executive producer Tom Forman told Entertainment Weekly in 2013.
Such behaviour ensures safety and brings unity. It also explains why the catfish always has a microphone before meeting the hosts and catfishes. The meet-ups appear spontaneous but aren’t: Before the major unveiling, the crew visits the catfish and gives them a microphone.
Logistics require this: It’s no fun trying to hear catfish. Most importantly, the interactions are authentic.
The crew rejects liars.
As MTV became prominent, people started catfishing for 15 seconds of fame. Marshall Eisen, executive producer and MTV senior VP of news and docs, shared insights with Vulture in 2014. He anticipated that many would lie to deceive. In the first season, they came alive easily.
Fame has downsides. “The staff carefully screens candidates before the show to avoid false stories. Candidate and partner applications must be thorough. Before production, they must pass background, psychiatric, fact-checking, and waiver checks. “Getting to the bottom of it takes a lot of people scouring over the Internet late into the night,” said Tom Forman (via Entertainment Weekly). “We have to prevent it,” Forman said.
Sometimes plans fail.
People can drop out of the show at any time. Such behaviour can cause awkwardness. The catfish has skipped multiple dates. They seemed on board but cancelled at the last minute, disappointing the catfishee and hosts.
The cast never surprises the catfish. The major disclosure necessitates unanimous agreement, leaving the catfishee in suspense if they choose not to proceed. We broadcast these episodes. Some are more engaging than normal ones.
“Mathan & Leah” follows Mathan and the hosts from Los Angeles to Washington to meet Leah. Mathan and Leah met at a cafĂ©, but her sister Jasmine arrived instead. “She wouldn’t come,” Jasmine replied. “She stayed with her boyfriend.” These unpredictable scenarios make the show suspenseful. You never know if the couple will meet or what will happen next.
It’s edited for drama, not contrived.
We don’t produce the act, but we shorten some parts for excitement. “We shorten the segments,” executive producer Marshall Eisen told Vulture in 2014. “Exhausting. We can’t help Nev and Max figure it out. Today’s methods are better, but cracking these cases takes time.
We condensed ten hours into five or six minutes to show how difficult it was.” Faster travel. The giant meetup draws many out-of-state catfishees. Catfish said, “Emails and texts were fake. No emails or texts were preserved or shown.
I regret the removal of many elements from the “Hi Ho…” show. No worries. Despite the dramatisation, the show remains factual. Nev Schulman told Newsweek in 2019 that he still surprises himself.
“The emotional complexities of each storyâthe diverse circumstances people bring from their livesâsurprise me. I’m astonished by the unusual emotional landscape.”
Show participants have a therapist.
Show catfish, and the victim suffers emotionally. Both sides are complex. Thankfully, the show doesn’t mistreat its subjects. They guarantee post-filming therapist access. Joseph said (via Vulture), “Our show breaks through and gets people to know themselves and understand their actions and habits.”
Schulman told Newsweek the show is about mental illness in 2019. “Unresolved. Body image, social anxiety, mental disease.” Catfishers are lonely, insecure, or depressed.
“Especially with young people, there is a real need for a conversation about happiness and personal fulfilment,” he said. “That’s why I’m so happy to do the show.” “The show is therapyâit lets individuals talk about their feelings.”
