Reasons Catfish Is Totally Fake

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, MTV was the essential television channel for discovering artists and showcasing the latest music videos. Over time, as our culture shifted towards a digital age, MTV — which has had its fair share of scandals — shifted away from its original mission and turned to more reality and drama content. Created by Nev Schulman in 2012, "Catfish: The TV Show" investigates the stories of people who develop intimate relationships online with someone they have never met. The investigations usually reveal if someone is a "catfish" — if they are lying about their identity — and end with a gripping confrontation.

Because this show falls somewhere between scripted television and documentary, it's hard to tell how much of is real, and how much is just juicy, fabricated entertainment (like many other reality TV moments that were staged). Like, come on, that showdown between "Antwane & Tony" (Season 3, Episode 2) was outrageously iconic, yes, but it can't all be true — can it? With this format, it's much easier for producers to get away with small tweaks and changes to fit a more compelling narrative. Is it possible that "Catfish" is catfishing its viewers? Let's dive into the reasons "Catfish" is totally fake.

Each episode of "Catfish: The TV Show" follows a similar format: someone suspicious of their online romance emails Nev Schulman and his co-host (Max Joseph in the early seasons, later Kamie Crawford) to initiate an investigation. Then, Schulman and his co-host get to digging. The show gives the impression that it's always the catfishee who reaches out to our hosts, but, this is not actually how the real people of "Catfish" are casted.

MTV's online casting application for the show (via Vulture) leads with questions like, "Do you have a secret or something to confess to your online partner?" and "Have you made any fake online profiles?" It's only later on in the application that questions appear for those who suspect they are being lied to.

When Hollywood.com interviewed six of the show's participants in 2014, they discovered that in all but one case, it was the catfisher — not the catfishee — who reached out to MTV first. But the final edit definitely suggests otherwise. MTV executive Marshall Eisen explained to Vulture that catfishes might be more inclined to confess because of a guilty conscience. "It's often the catfish we hear from first because they're looking to unburden themselves," he divulged. "It's not always the case, but it probably happens more than people realize."

The juiciest part of every "Catfish: The TV Show" episode is without a doubt, the confrontation. After a lengthy online investigation, Nev Schulman and his team seemingly ambush the catfish at their doorstep and force them to come clean about their manipulations. This mirrors what happened to Schulman in the original "Catfish" documentary: after discovering the truth, Schulman showed up unannounced at his catfisher's home for the ultimate IRL showdown. While this was incredibly entertaining, in order to protect its participants, the television show does things a little differently.

Before filming, the production team actually locates the applicant first, then requests a background check and psychological profiling to ensure that everyone is ready to proceed. So, the catfish knows when the show is coming to their house. From there, the producers guide Schulman and his team in the right direction as they conduct their investigations. Surprisingly, the catfisher doesn't usually need much convincing to get on board, but there's always the possibility that they might change their mind.

"We never know 100% for sure if the catfish is going to go through with this, even if they commit to filming," MTV executive Marshall Eisen told Vulture. "That's why there is a lot of tension in those scenes when we pull up for the visit because we're all waiting for the day when the catfish will not respond or change their mind."

"Catfish: The TV Show" takes a few creative liberties in order to keep its viewers hooked. In every episode, without fail, Nev Schulman, his team, and the catfishee seem to be completely in tune with each other as they discover new information in the story at the exact same time. Turns out, many, if not all, the storylines are loosely mapped out in advance to fit the show's formula and to ensure plenty of cliffhangers.

That's right — the chaotic and seemingly unpredictable events captured on "Catfish" are generally planned by the show's producers to not only accurately predict the participants' behavior, but also to create the most compelling show possible. "Catfish" is a drama series, after all. But how much is scripted, exactly?

Well, since the catfish is usually the applicant, that means the sequence where Schulman "randomly" selects a catfishee's email is false. Additionally, his random, dramatic, confrontational phone call to the catfish doesn't seem so random anymore. But besides this, an anonymous former employee justified to Buzzfeed, "'Catfish' isn't fake ... The producers do their due diligence to make sure the situation's safe and not fake before they film."

So, the "Catfish: The TV Show" producers aren't totally in the dark before filming starts — but how much do hosts Nev Schulman and Max Joseph know? Turns out, Schulman, Joseph, Kamie Crawford — who has wealth of her own — and the rest of the crew have no clue where the stories will go. The producers do a brief investigation of their own to plan the storyline, but otherwise, it's totally up to Schulman and his hosts' online detective work to connect the catfishee with the catfisher.

Sometimes, Schulman and Joseph get things wrong, but the producers don't correct them, leading to an even juicier showdown. For example, in the Season 3 episode, "Antwane & Tony," "they're completely wrong and they lead the hopeful into a situation they didn't see coming, and they feel really bad about it. It's a total surprise to them what's going to happen. Sometimes they get really flustered by what they see," MTV executive Marshall Eisen revealed to Vulture. If you've seen it, you know exactly what Eisen is referring to. Over 10 years later, this 2014 episode still goes down as one of the most shocking "Catfish" episodes ever — namely because of Schulman and Joseph's flabbergasted reactions.

At first watch, it seems like the hosts of "Catfish: The TV Show" are able to uncover the liar's true identity in no time at all. In fact, their research seems quite efficient — after just a bit of social media stalking and a few reverse image searches, Nev Schulman and his co-hosts are usually able to crack the case with ease. The whole investigation looks like it would be over in just a few minutes, but that's not exactly the truth.

As noted earlier, "Catfish" producers conduct their own trial-and-error investigations to get a feel of how long it might take Schulman and the co-hosts to uncover a fraud. However, once filming starts, they must step back and let the hosts do their thing to maintain some authenticity. It can take several hours or even days for the hosts to get to the bottom of a case, but producers are not likely to intervene.

"We edit the investigations down. They can be grueling," Marshall Eisen laughed in his Vulture chat. "There have been very, very long days where Nev and Max are trying to figure it out, and we can't help them." Thankfully, after a few seasons, Schulman and Max Joseph found their groove. "The guys are better at it now, but it's not always obvious how to crack these things. We've condensed what's taken them 10 hours in some instances into five or six minutes, but we try to show that it was difficult," Eisen admitted.

Reality shows require a lot of movie magic — meaning that producers rely on various tricks and techniques to guarantee a captivating and dramatic ending. "Catfish: The TV Show" falls somewhere between narrative television and documentary, allowing producers to exaggerate stories, manipulate the timeline, or use careful editing to add more drama and depth than reality.

In one instance, Hollywood.com reported their investigation into how the show fabricated an entire profession of love from a catfisher who had no romantic feelings for their catfishee. In fact, several interviewed cast members denied that their relationships had ever been romantic. In another example, a participant explained that their relationship was presented as a month-long fling, when in reality, it had been going on for three months at that point. "Really, I'm just frustrated that people don't know the whole story," the anonymous participant told Hollywood.com. Unfortunately, there are countless more stories where participants felt that their timelines were misrepresented, but in order to keep viewers hooked, "Catfish" producers will probably continue to prioritize the drama.

Every "Catfish: The TV Show" episode ends with an explosive confrontation between the catfisher and their victim. The catfisher will explain their motive — which usually involves some form of past trauma or mental health diagnosis — as Nev Schulman, the victim, and the crew try to understand. After this point, from the viewer's perspective, the catfisher is then left alone to reflect on their actions. With only a brief update on their whereabouts and general well-being, it often seems like the catfisher is left to deal with the emotional fallout of their deception on their own.

Thankfully, despite how unhinged their actions may be, the producers recognize that participants need to be treated with empathy. "Catfish" offers mental health counseling to every cast member, available as soon as filming starts to avoid being yet another reality TV show that has ruined people's lives. In fact, speaking with a therapist is mandatory in order to participate.

"We want to make sure that a professional is there in case the person needs it," MTV executive Marshall Eisen told Vulture. "Fortunately we haven't had any issues after the show has aired, but we need to make sure that people are taken care of if they need to be." The therapist also acts as a wellness evaluator. "There are a lot of stories we don't shoot," "Catfish" executive producer Tom Forman told Entertainment Weekly. "If somebody's got real emotional issues, it would be irresponsible for us to shoot that."