Nathan Henry has revealed he hopes to someday confront the woman behind the fake profile that he spoke to for almost three years.
The former Geordie Shore star, 31, opened up on his own catfishing ordeal in an exclusive chat with the Mirror ahead of his guest hosting stint on MTV's Catfish UK.
Nathan revealed that his own experience with catfishing means he can "empathise" with those on the show who have gone through a similar scenario.
"Even when you have your doubts about something – you want it to be real, you hold on to anything you can," Nathan said.
He revealed that he had connected with a male online who he knew as 'Drew' around the time he was taking part in Celebs Go Dating in 2019.
"This guy was like we started talking it was pretty cool. It was around the time when I was doing Celebs Go Dating so obviously, it was never going to end up being anything serious with them," he said.
Drew and Nathan then arranged to meet for drinks, it never materialised and "the excuses started coming".
Nathan said: "That was fine because I had filming so I didn't see anything bad then."
Reality star Nathan said Drew "told him he was a gangster", which stopped the Geordie Shore lad from asking any further questions due to fear.
"I was like, 'Well, I'm not gonna question anything, because I do not want to be involved in anything'," he said.
As time went on Nathan asked to FaceTime and have phonecalls with the catfish he was talking to – but they said no.
"I was like, 'I'd like to FaceTime you and speak on the phone', and he was like: 'Nathan, I've told you, because of my job and stuff like that I can't let anyone trace this back to me and get you in danger," Nathan recalled.
He added he felt a "thrill" and Nathan said he had no reason to doubt the person he was speaking with as the profile "seemed genuine".
Nathan explained the pair went on to have a relationship for almost three years. He added that they never met because Nathan was "always out of the country, always filming something and he was always off somewhere".
He revealed Drew would confide in him, as he said: "He told me about his dad dying and, I tried to help him through the grieving process. He didn't have much family left – didn't have any friends he could rely on.
"With his work and stuff, not many people knew he was gay so the only person he could confide in was me," he said. "It got deep on an emotional level really fast because we were constantly talking."
Nathan then revealed Drew had stopped messaging him so he went through his profile and noticed he had "added a few people with blue ticks". He then decided to reach out to some of the people the profile had followed to find out if he could verify the profile.
The reality star then discovered Drew had been talking to another person and, when asked if Drew had mentioned his job, he discovered they had told one other person they had a different job.
"That's when I was like, 'Right OK," Nathan said as he revealed he was put in touch with the real person behind the photos.
He explained: "They were posting all the content that this person had been speaking to had posted.
"So I messaged him and said, 'Look, I'm not sure if you're aware someone's been stealing your stuff and using it' and he was like: 'Yeah mate it's not the first time it's happened'.
"And then the next day, this person I had messaged and posted a video in the gym and Drew, an hour later, and posted the video."
Nathan then decided to confront him: "So I messaged him and I was like: 'Look we need to talk', he was like: 'Yeah what about babe?'"
He then recalled telling the profile: "'I feel like a f**king mug because after a month of extensive research, talking to other people, I'm aware that you're talking to a lot more people than me.
"'I've also found this profile, which you've been stealing the stuff off. I'd like to know who I've been talking to. I don't want this to turn to a nasty thing, I just want to know – because you know a lot about me as well – I want to know what's going on."
Nathan revealed Drew then "blocked me on everything" and it wasn't until his interview from Catfish he discovered who he'd actually been speaking to.
He recalled: "In that interview, I uncovered that this person that had been speaking to for three years was a woman from London, and she had done it to loads of people.
"I was like, wow, that's awful. I was sexting a woman... I'm gay. And not only that, she was talking as if she was a man, saying things as if she were a man. We knew intimate things about each other."
Nathan shared his shock over the fact that the woman had lied about a number of things and also been catfishing other gay men who also had "quite big profiles", too.
He added how the discovery made him feel "disgusted" and "cheap" and added: "I'm normally very careful. And if it can happen to me it can happen to the most vulnerable of people [too]."
Now, Nathan hopes to someday confront the catfish as he said: "I just want to know who she is and what her problem is!"
He added: "If the situation ever came up and I got the chance to see her face I have a lot of questions."
And while the experience put Nathan off of internet dating for "a long while" he know takes steps to make sure the person he is talking to is genuine.
Catfish UK continues every Wednesday on MTV at 10pm.
