Dr Phil: Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Recovering From Homosexuality, Cancer Hoax

Dr Phil: Manti Te’O Hoax

Dr Phil met with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man behind the Manti Te’O girlfriend hoax. He admitted to the deception, but said that he never set out to reap any financial gain or reward from his involvement.

Dr Phil: Ronaiah Tuiasosopo In Love With Manti Te’O?

Was Ronaiah in love with Manti Te’O? Ronaiah told Dr Phil that he invested all his time and energy in the fictional Lennay and the relationship she had online and on the phone with Manti Te’O.

“As twisted and as confusing as it may be, yeah, I cared for this person. I did all that I could to help this person become a better person, even though I wasn’t getting nothing out of it,” Ronaiah said. “Of course it’s very shameful and it’s very painful to even talk about.”

Dr Phil: Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Gay?

He said that he came up with a variety of lies to try to end the relationship, but none of them seemed to do the trick. Dr Phil wondered whether Ronaiah is gay.

Ronaiah said that would seem to be the natural conclusion from this situation. He said he is confused and lost, but this saga has taught him a lot about himself. Dr Phil did get him to admit that he had romantic feelings for another man.

He tried to claim that he is trying to “recover from homosexuality” and come back to his real life. I’m not sure what that means, and neither was Dr Phil. But he said that was straying too far off topic from where he wanted to focus the conversation.

Dr Phil: Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Recovering From Homosexuality?

Dr Phil said it was troubling for him to her Ronaiah talk about “recovering from homosexuality.” In the studio, he consulted with Dr Charles Sophy, a child/adolescent and adult psychiatrist.

Dr Sophy said that he has probably had a hard time struggling with feelings of anger and shame in the culture where he grew up. Dr Phil said it was clear he had feelings and an emotional connection with Manti Te’O.

“He sees it as a real relationship, but it’s a fantasy of lies that he’s believing,” Dr Sophy said. “He thinks that it’s real.”

From what Dr Sophy had to say, it seems like Ronaiah has a hard time separating himself from the fictional persona of Lennay that he created.

Dr Phil: Lennay Kekua Voicemails

Dr Phil said that Ronaiah obviously made some bad choices in his online pursuits. Ronaiah said that Lennay helped Manti become a better person. I think he is proud of his deceptive relationships.

In one voicemail, a tearful Lennay says it is her last time trying to contact Manti Te’O, because another woman answered his phone. Dr Phil said the emotional seemed genuine. Ronaiah recalled there was a lot going on that night, and he was surprised when a girl answered the phone.

Dr Phil: Lennay Kekua Cancer

Ronaiah said he and/or he as Lennay were very upset at the cutoff from contact with Manti. In another message, Lennay left a message for Manti about her chemotherapy appointment.

Dr Phil wondered why he gave his fictional character of Lennay a cancer diagnosis. Was this an exit strategy? Ronaiah said that his does not appreciate the characterization of her cancer as a joke. He said he wanted give himself an out.

Ronaiah is a talented musician, apparently, and sang in a church choir. He also supposedly has great voice control. “You can speak with that voice,” Dr Phil said of Ronaiah’s Lennay voice. But Ronaiah was not interested in showing Dr Phil the voice.