A divorcee hired MTV catfish experts to investigate her online lover and says it gave her the “tools she needs” to find her “happy ending” - despite being duped.<br /><br />Angela Morone, 42, was excited when a stranger called Gary Natsu, who claimed he was 35, reached out to her on Instagram in June 2022 - after ending her 20-year marriage.<br /><br />But the mum-of-three became concerned when 'Gary' didn’t show up for their first date and withheld information about himself.<br /><br />Angela got in touch with MTV Catfish and the team agreed to investigate ‘Gary’.<br /><br />They discovered ‘Gary’ was in fact a 33-year-old man named Justin and the pair met and came face-to-face on the show.<br /><br />Justin had used the fake name Gary Natsu - a character from Pokemon - and lied about being "outgoing" but looked the same as his pictures, it was revealed.<br /><br />But Angela says the pair have remained in contact as friends and she doesn't regret doing the show.<br /><br />Angela, an actress, from New Jersey, US, said: “I didn’t get a catfish on appearance.<br /><br />“I got catfished on personality.<br /><br />“He was shaking with fear when he met me.<br /><br />“I thought he was attractive and cute.<br /><br />“We hugged.<br /><br />“I felt bad for him.<br /><br />“It was brave of him to show up.<br /><br />“I’m happy I did the show.<br /><br />“It’s made me comfortable about speaking to people online.”<br /><br />Angela was exclusively talking to 'Gary' when he reached out after seeing her on Instagram.<br /><br />The pair would text and call all the time and arranged to meet up in July 2022.<br /><br />But when 'Gary' was a no-show Angela became suspicious.<br /><br />She said: "He would say 'good morning' every day.<br /><br />"He thought I was attractive.<br /><br />"I thought he was very interested in me.<br /><br />"We were going to pursue something intimate.<br /><br />"When he didn't turn up, I messaged, and he said: 'I was there. Where were you?'<br /><br />"I emailed MTV Catfish right away.<br /><br />"I wanted to make this was real and I was safe."<br /><br />MTV catfish came back to Angela after a couple of weeks and started to investigate ‘Gary’.<br /><br />In October 2022 they filmed Angela’s story – breaking down her concerns, giving her advice on online dating and finally letting her come face to face with ‘Gary’.<br /><br />She said they filmed four days of footage which was edited together for the 40-minute show.<br /><br />Experts Nev Schulman and Shan Boodram revealed to Angela that Gary’s real name was Justin after finding him on Facebook and that he had been through a divorce.<br /><br />She said: “I found out he was only 33 – and had been through a divorce – something he hadn’t told me.<br /><br />“He looks at me and thinks I’m a beautiful actress.<br /><br />“But I have low self-esteem too.<br /><br />“He held back his hobbies.<br /><br />“He was a keyboard warrior.<br /><br />“He seemed outgoing but really he was shy.”<br /><br />Angela is still in contact with Justin and said she has offered to meet up with him to help him through the experience.
