Angela was in a relationship,
but that ended,
gets into TikTok, and right away,
she gets a message from a guy named Justin.
- He always would say, "You're a good mother,"
"You're smart," "You're pretty."
- You don't even know how old he is?
What's that? - That is a wedding ring.
- He's married!
- I'm not feeling too good about this now.
- Hey, are you Justin?
[dramatic musical sting]
Kamie's not here this episode,
but the good news is we have an amazing replacement.
We've got intimacy expert, who also happens to be
a super rad chick.
She's ready to crack this case with us,
and her name is Shan Boodram.
- Wassup!
- Shan is truly one of a kind--
a renowned sexologist,
her YouTube channel has over 70 million views.
- You were just open, saying yes to pleasure--
- Yes. - But pleasure in all forms.
- So with Kamie gone this week,
what better person to try to help us find love online
than Shan Boodram?
- I'm also Kamie's friend.
- Oh, and friend of Kamie? - Yes, I'm a friend of Kamie.
- Oh, so you're a perfect surrogate?
- I'm a perfect surrogate.
- So what is sexology and intimacy work?
- So I always say sexologist is to sex--
- Right. - What a nutritionist
is to food. So a chef cooks the food--
- Yes. - And prepares for you.
So that would be a sex worker.
So a sexologist studies sex and studies the psychology
and the biology and the sociology of sex,
and it maybe provides insight to chefs
to be able to cook better food.
I actually hope that it's a kinky case--
kinky case, kinky case.
- [chuckles]
Well, let's see.
All right, we got an email.
"Hey, Nev and"...
- Surrogate Kamie. - Yes, exactly.
- ♪ If I fall down, then I get back up ♪
- "I'm 41 and a working actress.
"I live in Howell, New Jersey with my three gorgeous kids.
"2 years ago, when I was turning 40,
"I wanted to change my whole life,
so I decided to embrace my fabulousness."
- As you should. - "I ended
"a 20-year relationship,
and found myself confused by dating."
- ♪ I'm not breaking ♪
♪ He'll know I don't quit ♪
- "I can barely tell a Tinder from a tweet."
- [laughs] - "I started focusing
on what I was passionate about"--
- Mm-hmm. - "Kids, entertaining,
"and my social media.
"This past July, I posted on TikTok
"about going to NYC to do some background work
"and Justin,
"a total stranger, commented.
He asked if he could meet up with me while I was there."
- ♪ Move it, each step is showing I can ♪
♪ Do it, I'm working ♪
- "I thought he was nuts, because who does that?
"But then I decided, 'What the hell?'
"And said yes.
"Unfortunately, we didn't make that meetup happen.
"But from then on,
"Justin was in my DMs
"and messaging me daily.
"He's intelligent, warm,
"and not used to a man being so kind and attentive.
"I thought we'd meet pretty quickly,
"but now it's more than two months,
and we haven't had a single date."
- Justin...
- "When I try to meet him,
"there's always an excuse.
"I was delusional for the 20 years I was with my ex,
"and I don't wanna make the same mistake twice.
"It's taken a lot for me to put myself out there again,
"and the idea that he might be lying to me is devastating.
"But if he's not trustworthy,
then it's time for us to part ways."
- ♪ No time for losing ♪
- Can I just say-- what a pro move,
if this is a catfish,
to make the first bit of contact,
"I wanna meet you,"
because that takes the doubt away.
- Oh, it really sort of locks in the, like,
"Oh, yeah, we should meet up." - Yeah, like,
"I'm a real person." - He's very bold.
- It's a very bold thing. - Right.
- Yeah. - Shall we call Angela?
- I'm very excited. - Find out more?
Okay. [phone line trilling]
- Hello, is this Angela?
- Hello, Angela, this is Nev from "Catfish."
- I got your email, and before we get into it--
Kamie is not on this episode,
but I have someone so fantastic,
who is helping me, named Shan.
- Hello, Angela.
- And now you're single,
welcome to the wild, [bleep] up world
of internet dating.
- It's a lot.
- So you just recently started your TikTok account,
started posting videos, and all of a sudden,
this guy just hits you up?
- Was he super fine in his little-ass circle picture,
and you're like, "I'ma tap it"?
- Huh. Well, we are going
to come to New Jersey, and we are gonna help you.
- All right, we'll see you tomorrow, Angela.
- Bye, Angela. - Bye.
- Wow. - He's not getting a lot.
- No, but she's been getting so little, I think,
for so long. - That is true.
- I mean, after 20 years in a relationship,
I'm sure you know, if it's not going well--
like, she hasn't had love and affection in her life
in so many years-- - Yeah.
- Just to have some other person reach out to her
and shower her with affection or attention,
like, probably means a lot to her.
- I feel heavy but hopeful.
- Great. - Let's do it.
Okay, the journey begins.
- We're on our way to New Jersey.
- I don't know what I'm signing up for.
Hello to the unknown.
- ♪ The world is ours ♪
♪ The world is ours ♪
- We made it.
- When was the last time you were in New Jersey?
- I wanna say maybe never.
- Well, you will never forget New Jersey after this.
- Yeah, I'm extremely curious about this story.
- Something's going on, and we need to figure it out.
There it is.
- Oh, wow.
[doorbell rings] - Oh.
Hey! - Hi!
- Wow. - Hello.
- Are you Angela? - I am.
- Angela, I'm gonna shove you right now.
- [chuckles] - You're so hot.
- Yeah, right? - Let me get in here.
- [laughs]
- Wow, this place is gorgeous.
- Thank you. Make yourself at home.
- Oh, thank you. - Thanks for flying down.
- Sure.
So aside from the full-time job of mothering,
you're an actress? - Yes.
I just started that same time I started my TikToks.
That's why I kind of started.
- Huh. - So this was post-divorce.
WE were completely separated for at least two years,
but we weren't really-- it was, like, hot and cold
before that. - Right.
- Just staying together for the kids.
- So when you broke up, is that when you were like,
"I'm going to do all the things
"that I couldn't do, 'cause I felt stifled
in the relationship"? - Yeah, and I think I had
a low self-esteem, so I was trying to build
my confidence and self-esteem back up.
- So have you been going on dates?
- No. - No?
- Haven't at all. - So Justin's really, like,
the first guy you've talked to?
- He was the first one that I felt like I connected with.
- So tell us about your connection with Justin.
- I started making, um, Instagram videos and TikToks,
and then he would like the content I was posting.
- What was the video?
- One of those silhouette videos
where you don't have clothes on.
- Oh. - Yeah...
- Wow. Do you remember
what the comment was?
- A puppy dog thing, and he's like,
"I have to see another one of these,"
or something. - Oh, okay.
- But it made me, like, giggle.
- Sure. - It made me smile.
Again, I'm going into this with low self-confidence,
and he just boosted my self-esteem.
He made me feel desired and liked and stuff.
So then I'm like, "All right." I hearted it,
and I put, "I'll see what I can do
about making another video."
- Okay, so then...
- He started following me--
- Right. - And then I followed him back,
'cause that was how he was able to get
into the inbox.
- Right. - Yes.
- Then once he gets into the inbox,
then it was kind of, like, a daily thing--
a "Good morning," "How are you doing?"
"What do you do?" Then it was consistent.
- "What do you do?" - Right.
- That, would then, I assume,
prompt a conversation about what he does.
Do you know what he does? - Mm-mm.
I never got full answers,
because then it would turn into another conversation.
- 'Cause he's asking lots of questions?
- Correct. He's spitting out stuff--
I'm answering. - Right.
- And then I answer something,
but then it gets lost in the jumble.
- That's okay. So you're DMing on TikTok
and Instagram? - No.
That what I was just gonna get into.
So then I develop this Instagram page,
and I'm putting up videos.
All of a sudden, I see this anime guy
keep liking my videos. and his name is garynatsu,
and he gets in the inbox--
"Just to let you know, this is Justin from TikTok."
- Huh. - So I'm like, "Okay."
- Was it--okay. Had he specified
what his name is?
- He never actually told me whether it was Justin or Gary.
- You never said, "Oh, it's kind of strange
you have two names on these different platforms"?
- He said he was into, like, anime and stuff like that.
- So that's just his, like, gamey profile.
- It confused me. I am older.
So whatever--I knew it was the same person,
so I felt comfortable enough to keep talking,
but as far as the name, the job, even the age--
- You don't even know how old he is?
- I'm assuming he was around my age
because of the content of his language.
- So you think his name is Justin what?
- I don't know his last name. - Oh.
- Have you ever asked him his name?
- Um, not really,
because I kind of-- when I'm saying,
"My name is this," I'm waiting for you
to respond with yours. When I say, "I'm 41,"
I'm waiting for you to respond back.
- But there's something about him that you're like,
"I wanna chase"-- - I don't chase, but yes,
there's something about certain ways
and things that were said.
Like, in the morning, um, so--
"Are you feeling better from the night before?"
Like, little things-- like, "Oh, did you get to do
what you wanted last week?"
Or "What are you gonna have for lunch?"
Just little things like that.
It's not something that everybody asks.
- So it's just less about the banter
and more about the care--
he cares. - Right.
- And do you have his phone number?
- I have it, yes. - So you did text?
- We did once. - Once?
- Yeah, once, and the next morning,
we went back to the apps.
- Unless you're hiding
you're relationship... - Right, right, right.
- In which case, you don't want text messages
coming up on your phone. - Yes.
- Why wouldn't he-- - Yeah, that is strange.
How do you know he feels intimately about you?
- He always would say, "You're very kind,"
"You're a good mother,"
"You're smart," "You're pretty."
- But has he ever said, "I really like you"?
- Yes. - Okay.
- Definitely said that. - But have you made any plans
to meet up? - We did--we were supposed to
meet on 42nd Street when I was out there one day,
and I told him I'm waiting.
I waited about 45 minutes,
then I actually wanted to catch the sunset.
So I says, "I'm heading over to Brooklyn
so I could see the sunset over the bridge."
Then I'm getting a text, "Oh, I was there.
Where were you?" - Oh, and then he gets
to 42nd Street-- - Yes.
- He's like, "Oh, I'm here, where are you?"
- Correct.
- Can we take a sort of scroll through some of your messages
and just get a sense of your relationship?
- All right, I have a lot. - So these are your messages?
- Those are our messages from Instagram.
- He said, "Good morning. Have a great day filming"--
just positive affirmations,
being very supportive.
- Yes. - It's amazing
how many messages you guys have here.
Oh, it's a lot, geez.
- We talk daily.
- I will say here, Angela,
I haven't seen you ask him one question yet.
So you might respond back to what he says,
like, "That's crazy," but not like,
"Wow, how did you feel about that?"
- Mm-hmm. - Or I haven't seen you
directly ask him, like, "Where do you live?"
"What do you do?" "What are you into?"
- Wait, is this him? - Yes, that's one of him.
- Wow,
and he sent you these on TikTok?
- Yeah. - Okay, that's not
a vague photo at all.
It's pretty clear. - Okay, so wait a second.
So these are pretty specific photos.
- It's the same guy. It's the same nose--yeah.
- Huh. Yeah, I mean,
some of the things about this guy
seem very suspicious,
and then, some things seem very legit.
- Loveable, right. That's what I'm saying.
I get--I'm very confused about the whole situation.
- All right, so look, we are going to figure this out.
- Thank you.
- We'll check back in with you tomorrow
an go from there.
- Thanks for joining me.
- [grunts]
Good to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, Angela.
- Can't wait to see you guys.
Find out everything.
[dramatic music]
- Not what I expected.
She's not what I expected. - No, not at all.
- And this guy, you know, like, their relationship,
I get it. - Yes.
- You know, I don't know if I get it as much for him.
- She's an attractive woman,
and he obviously slid in her DMs
or commented on, like, a sexy video.
- Sure, sure. - So it feels like he would be
incentivized to try to have a physical relationship.
But because he's not trying to pursue
this in-person relationship,
but he's still trying to maintain contact--
that's the strange thing.
I get why she likes Justin.
I don't get him.
- That's what's crazy.
What's this guy want from Angela?
- All right. - This place looks cozy--
like a magical coffee shop.
- What, a crystal ball?
This is crazy. - Whoa!
- I've never seen a crystal ball in my life.
Oh, yes, he's staring intently into the ball.
[eerie music]
- Crystal ball... - What do you see?
- Is Justin a catfish playa?
♪ ♪
- Hint? - I'm not getting anything.
- Not--okay, let it go.
- "Ask again later." [both laugh]
Right, Angela's 41.
She was in a relationship for almost 20 years.
It yielded three children,
but left her broken.
For two years now, she's been single,
getting her life back on track,
gets into TikTok.
That takes off, and right away,
she starts getting comments and messages
and notices one from a guy named Justin.
They start talking every day.
It's now been two months, and the couple times they planned
on meeting up, something's happened.
Something comes up for work...
- Or that date-- is it not strange
he "couldn't find her" in New York?
- Over the years, making this show,
that's a very typical catfish move.
It's a tactic. - Mm-hmm.
- So Angela sent us an email.
It says, "Hey, Nev and Shan"--
you made it into the email. - Yes.
- "Thank you for coming out here
"to help me with this whole situation.
"What I know is that his name is Justin,
but he also goes by Gary."
[laughs] "But I know his name is Justin.
"He lives in Brooklyn.
"Here's his Instagram.
"His TikTok URL is [bleep] Justin,"
and a phone number.
"I'm sending the photos I have.
"If you have any questions or need anything else from me,
feel free to call or text."
- I'm tingling right now. Where do we start?
- Let's just do an image search
even though I can't imagine
we're gonna find any of these pictures anywhere.
So here's the first one.
Okay, nothing there.
All right, next pic.
[suspenseful music]
Nothin', Last one.
♪ ♪
Negative. All right, so enough with that.
Let's run the phone number.
New York, New York,
but no name associated with this number.
Let's try another site.
Kay, again, nothing.
- Is that strange
for the phone thing not to check out?
- No. Often, phone numbers
will come up to other people's names,
or like in this case, it doesn't come back
with a name at all. - Okay.
- So what else do we have here?
We have Instagram.
Here is his Instagram. Okay, so--
- Okay. - It appears his name
is Gary--last name, Natsu.
Like, can we just look that up and just see if Natsu
is some, like, slang, Urban Dictionary thing?
Oh! Natsu is a character.
So he must be a big fan of this character.
But that still doesn't explain why he goes by Gary.
So I wanna just look up "Gary Natsu,"
'cause could that even be
a more specific reference to someone?
- Oh, he actually popped up. - Ooh, wait a second.
There's a Facebook.
- That is him! - Whoa!
Wait, does she have this Facebook?
Did she send us this? No.
So they're not even on Facebook together,
and here he is.
He has a link here to a fanfiction.
Oh, he has a Linktree?
Linktree, garynatsu.
[dramatic music]
- Royal Load-- don't know what that is.
Wow, this is a sort of fanfiction thing,
and look, he's even got his Instagram linked here
to the same one that we have.
"Pokémon trainer Gary
has lost a lot on his journey through the Kanto region."
So this guy, yeah, he's really into fanfiction.
So this is very much a part of his life--
crazy that it hasn't come up.
- It is pretty crazy.
- His name definitely seems to be Gary.
We know his last name's not Natsu,
'cause that's a character name. - Mm.
- But, like, he doesn't call himself Justin
in any of these spaces. - Right.
- So that is strange.
- Mm-hmm. - What else do we have here?
That's definitely Justin/Gary.
Also, look, I mean, this is definitely New York City,
100%, unmistakable.
Look, he's even got pictures of what seem to be his house.
It's filled with anime.
Whoa, that's him in a mask.
Oh, what's that?
- Oh...
that's a wedding ring. - It certainly looks like one.
- It does look a wedding ring. - Right?
That could be his wife.
"Me and my friends celebrating my birthday...
differences and scaring the wife"!
He's [bleep] married!
He said, "My wife"!
- Oh, he tagged her.
♪ ♪
- This is--that's the girl-- - Wow.
- From the picture! - Yeah, damn.
- Hard to get any more info though.
Her page is private. That's a bummer.
- All right, he's married.
- In an interesting, somewhat unexpected twist,
all signs seem to be pointing
to "Justin" really just being Gary,
which is not a name he's been hiding--
- Right. - Who's a real guy--
the guy in the pictures,
lives in New York,
but unfortunately for Angela,
it looks like this guy is married.
♪ ♪
- We're here.
- [grunts]
[dramatic music]
Hey. - Hi, welcome again.
- All right! - Hello!
- Hello. - What's up?
- Great to see you. - Yes, nice to see you.
I wanna find out what we got going.
- Well, we have a lot to talk about.
All right, so why doesn't everyone slide in,
so that we can all look at the screen together?
Okay, first of all, we just said,
"Okay, let's just look up Gary."
- Mm-hmm. - "Even though we think
"his name is Justin, what's this name Gary"--
- Natsu. - Right.
- It isn't the other name. - So you knew that?
- No, no, no, no, no. - Oh!
- I'm look at your internet-- - Oh, you're looking at it.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Okay, so Natsu
is a character. So he's using
an anime character as his last name.
- Okay. - Now here's
something interesting-- when you Google Gary Natsu,
there's a Facebook page.
- Oh, that's Justin! - Right.
So there's a page.
- He told me he didn't use Facebook.
I didn't even realize you were on Facebook.
- But here's where we really started picking up steam.
- Mm-hmm. - When we clicked
on the About section,
he's got a Linktree.
Now here's something interesting--
- Mm-hmm? - I just noticed this--
this is his Instagram page. - Mm-hmm.
- The one you've been looking at.
- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. - What do you see
when you look at this?
- I mean, the anime?
- Okay, the first thing you see is anime,
but look harder.
'Cause this is, I think, part of the problem.
- That I don't see things.
- You don't see things,
or you don't look for things. - And they're right in my face.
- Or you're easily distracted by the wrong things.
You know what I see?
His bio.
Right here--he's a Pokémon fanfiction writer.
- Mm-hmm. - So he's a writer.
- Mm-hmm. - "Read my stories here."
- Oh, I've never even read his stories.
- And then a link! Here's his Linktree,
which has links to six different accounts
on different websites,
one of which is a place where people post fanfiction,
and it has a bio-- "Hey, my name is Gary,
Pokémon fan"-- - See, he's saying
his name is Gary! - Right--
talks about writing fanfiction for Pokémon.
This is something he's been doing a long time.
- Right, and it's something I should have...
talked to him about. - Something--but the fact
that he hasn't mentioned... - Never.
- That he has a major passion...
- Mm-hmm. - For fanfiction and writing
and reading, like--weird!
- Never has he talked about any of this.
- So basically, at this point, we started to think,
like, "Okay, it looks like this guy
is mostly what you think he is,"
but we then went back to the Facebook page
that we found and thought, "Okay,
"let's take a deep dive. Let's go through the posts.
"Let's see if we can find anything
that can tell us more."
- Mm, and did you? - Yeah, we found this.
Here he is with what looks like a wedding ring.
And in this post,
he calls that woman his wife.
- He has a wife?
♪ ♪
That makes me upset.
- ♪ Sometimes love feels like a heart attack ♪
[vocalizes]
I'm, like, really confused.
- ♪ It breaks you down ♪
♪ Just to bring you back ♪
- This is, like, deep-- you're married.
Now this is, like, turning into more secretive--
it's like he knows a lot about me,
but I know nothing about him.
- ♪ Sometimes love feels like a heart attack ♪
- But I do wanna point out
his picture is from 2019.
So it's possible they're divorced.
- Possibly.
- Why wouldn't he have mentioned being married?
- And with my ex, he's not on any of my social media.
I erased him. - Right.
- The fact that all this is still up--
maybe he's still married.
I'm, like, really confused,
and I feel a little scared, 'cause, like, I feel scared,
'cause, like, this guy knows so much more about me
than I know about him.
- ♪ Sometimes love feels like a heart attack ♪
- Well, I think now we're at this moment where,
in a way, I feel more confident
that there is, in fact, a guy named Justin
who lives in New York City-- - Right.
- That looks like the guy in the pictures,
but there is still this big question mark--
is he married?
- Mm-hmm. - There's no mention
or evidence of his wife since 2019.
So it's possible they're divorced.
But it doesn't look like
there's much more we can find out--
- Without, like, talking to him.
You think I should just confront him?
- Well, I don't know if I want to use the word "confront"--
at least not about the wife--
yet. - Mm-hmm.
- But I think you should call Justin.
- Do you think we should call? - Yeah.
Let's see if he answers. - I know.
[phone line trilling]
- Your call has been forwarded
to an automated voice messaging system.
646...
- Yeah, it wasn't the name. - Right.
What is the best way to-- [phone dings]
Was that-- oh, that's the number.
That's the number we called. - It is.
- "Hey, I just missed a call from you.
I'm at dinner with a friend."
- Mm. - Okay, I think you say,
"Fine, but I did want to talk to you
about finally meeting up face-to-face."
- I feel comfortable saying that.
- Right. - That sounds--
- So you could say your version of that.
So, "You mean a lot to me, and I would really like to see
"where this is going. I'm off tomorrow.
Why don't we finally get together?"
- Mm-hmm. - Nice.
Let's see what they say.
[phone dings] - There he is.
- Whoa, whoa! He said, "Next week
would be better. Are you free then?"
- He always does this. - Right, this is the thing.
So-- - Maybe now is a good time
for the ultimatum. - Yeah, say,
"Cut the crap, Justin."
That's what I would say.
What--can you read it to us?
- "Look, I don't want any more excuses.
"I'm tired of waiting. I emailed 'Catfish'
for assistance, and they are here with me."
- Wow. - Now I think I scared him.
I'm usually a very positive, nice person.
[phone dings] - Oh, he wrote back.
"Um, wow, I'm really confused.
"You called 'Catfish,' like, because of me?
"I honestly do think you're great too.
"I'm just a little caught off guard
"and not fully sure what to think nor am comfortable
with all this. I need time to think it over."
So say, "Okay, right, I totally get.
I look forward to hearing from you soon."
- Mm-hmm. - Okay, wow.
Well, whether he comes to town here or we go there,
it's now or never.
So get some rest, and we'll see what happens.
All right.
- Thanks for stopping by.
- Bye, Angela.
It's cats and dogs over here in New Jersey.
- It does seem like there are two versions of Justin.
- Yes, you've got really nice, shy guy,
who has just been shell-shocked,
or really mischievous guy,
who's finally getting called out on his BS.
Either way, Angela's love life is on the line.
[dramatic music]
- I brought a little breakfast.
Hello?
- Hello, come in.
Wow. - [chuckles]
- Is this a treat for us both?
- It's for you, but I'm gonna eat most of it.
- Two different kinds of pastries.
You need options, yeah. - I like options.
How you doin'? - I am doing great.
- We have nothing new, but perhaps Angela does.
[phone line trills]
- Angela. - Good morning!
- Hey, good morning.
- Have you heard anything?
- Well, now that he knows we're working together,
maybe I reach out this morning
just to see if perhaps I can get a response.
- Okay, great.
As soon as I have some info,
I will let you know.
All right.
Okay, so Justin--
"Good morning, Justin.
"This is Nev from Catfish.
"I promise you have nothing to worry about.
"As you know, Angela is
"a very open-minded person.
"I know you said you were nervous,
"but we would love to help you guys
"finally meet in real life.
Is there any way for us to meet you?"
- The prayer here is that he's gonna come out here.
- We could drive up to the city.
He could drive there.
We could meet in the middle. [phone dings]
- Oh, my God! - Catfish, oh, my gosh.
- He wrote back.
"I'm definitely pretty nervous,
"but I am willing to do this.
Do you have a place I can meet at?"
- Wow!
I did not see this coming.
- I'm gonna say, "Fantastic. I promise you won't regret it.
"We have a nice park
we can meet at."
- I can't believe this is actually gonna happen.
- Well... - You still have doubts?
- I mean, people have done this before.
They seemed positive, and then...
- Not shown. - Right.
- Right, which he's done before to Angela.
- Yeah, right, which usually suggests
that they're hiding something. [message whoops]
- Oh. - Wow.
- "Okay, I'll do my best to be there in an hour."
I'll say, "Okay, great. See you soon."
All right, let's call Angela.
- Hi, Angela.
- I was just texting with Justin.
He agreed to meet up with us.
- He said he'll come down here,
which means we'll come to scoop you,
and then we'll head over there.
- Okay, see you soon. - Bye.
- Probably a strange mix of hoping he comes
and he hoping he does not come.
- That's your feeling?
- No, for Angela.
I think some people get so attached to the story,
and now you have to break up with potentially the person
and the story that you told yourself.
That's hard to do, - Right.
- All right...
- Wanna do the honors? - I'd love to do the honors.
- Whoo! - Oh, wow, you are ready!
- Oh, my goodness! - I'm ready.
- Look at this. - You--Angela,
we're going to a park. - I know.
I wanna make a good first impression.
- This is an amazing first impression.
- Wow, this show's called "Catfish," not "catwalk,"
Angela. - [laughs]
Thank you.
- Oh, yeah!
Whew, here we go.
- A little nervous, but I'm still excited.
- So Angela, it seems like
despite all of the possible deception and ambiguity,
you feel like we could be driving to your destiny?
- Yeah, definitely.
- But he could be married.
- But there's still a chance he might not be too.
- Of course. - And there's still a chance
that maybe it's not even him.
♪ ♪
I dunno.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
Oh, I've been here many times.
- It seems very drop-a-dead-body-ish.
- Okay.
Let's see. Let's let him know, maybe,
that we're here.
"Hey, Justin,
we just arrived." [message whoops]
Should we go look for him? - Sure thing.
- All right.
♪ ♪
- I'm not feeling too good about this now.
- Well, hold on. Maybe we got here first.
- Right.
♪ ♪
- Justin's not over here.
Let's see--maybe by the lake.
- I do see somebody sitting on a bench--
a single person all the way out there.
I don't know. - Whoa, yeah, do you see that?
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- Is that him?
No, I don't think so.
Let's go back. I assume if we're gonna meet,
it's probably gonna be
kind of right by the parking lot,
so maybe we got here before him.
♪ ♪
If he pulls into the parking lot,
we can't miss him.
All right...
Wanna let him know? - Tell him what time?
- Well, I just told him we were here, so...
- I like, "Did you find your way here?"
- Yeah, that's good.
♪ ♪
[message whoops] Was that me or you?
- Mm... - Is that him?
- Did he say something?
- I think he's here.
- Yeah, wait a second.
- I think he's here.
- Yeah, wait a second.
- Seems like it was taken right now.
Right? - Let's go check and see
if that-- - I know, right?
That seems crazy that he would be here...
- This close.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
I guess he just didn't wanna come.
- Or he didn't wanna show his face.
Maybe he's not who you think.
- I just thought we had a better connection.
- I think, at this point, it's about you.
- Right. - And you've given a lot,
you've invested a lot,
you've been hurt a lot,
and this is something that's really important to you,
and you'd ask him to reconsider.
- "I'm still here if you change your mind.
"This is about me and what I need.
"As someone who cared about me,
"I know this matters to you.
I'll be here, like, 20 more minutes."
- All right, so let's hope that he shows up.
- Kay.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[suspenseful music]
I--I don't think he's gonna come.
- There's still cars coming in.
- I think you come this far
because you want to share your truth.
He just needed the nudge. So I think he'll come back.
- I just find it strange that he came all the way out here
from New York and then chickened out
at the very last second.
- I wish he got a chance to hear how genuine you are.
♪ ♪
- This car is sort of sitting there.
Check it out
before he pulls away, you know?
♪ ♪
Hey.
- What's up?
Are you Justin?
- Thanks for coming back.
A little nervous?
All right. - So he came back.
I'm interested to know if that's the guy in the pictures.
- I'm interested in a lot. - Yeah...
- Angela's eager to meet you.
She's obviously curious
and I think, now, a bit concerned.
- I guess it may be that the difference
is the strong independentness of her and, you know,
with her TikTok and her online persona--
online is a lot more, you know, different,
and most of my stuff is just-- - Right.
- It doesn't feature myself. - Sure, I mean,
don't get me wrong-- Angela's also struggled,
I think, with insecurity and self-doubt.
So I think you guys actually have a lot more in common
than you realize.
- How's your heart?
[chuckles]
- It's fluttering.
I got butterflies. Heartbeat's out there.
- I just feel so out of place,
and it's nerve-racking. It's crippling.
My anxiety is just...
- Sure. I mean, I can't obviously
change the way you feel, but I think you should
come over there with me and just see how it feels,
and if you leave now,
you'll always regret it.
You'll always feel bad about it,
and you'll carry it forever.
So the only way out
is in.
- It's really embarrassing, but I can't do it.
- Well, at the very least, Nev will come back
with some answers for you. - Mm-hmm.
I just can't imagine, like, it being this long
to make a decision. - Yeah.
- I mean, what could he be talking about
that he can't tell me?
- Let's just start small.
Let me just open the door.
You don't have to get out. - I don't wanna open the door.
I'm pretty much a coward.
I--I think I'm better off running off.
- For better or for worse,
you and only you
got yourself this far.
Clearly, it was something you wanted to do.
You just gotta make that little leap,
which is, honestly, just open the door
and take one step and it'll be all--and that's it.
♪ ♪
Just take a second. Think about it.
- Okay.
- The car hasn't pulled away.
Window's up. - Window's up.
♪ ♪
- Oh, he's coming to us.
[dramatic music]
- This is possibly the most anxious,
socially uncomfortable person
I've ever encountered on the show.
- That says a lot. - Yeah, yeah.
He's got cold feet, weak in the knees.
He's just not giving himself a chance
and just assuming the worst.
- Well, is he the pictures?
- I couldn't really see him.
- No way. - Yeah, here he comes.
- He's got cold feet, weak in the knees.
He's just not giving himself a chance
and just assuming the worst.
- Well, is he the pictures?
- I couldn't really see him.
- No way. - Yeah, here he comes.
[dramatic music]
- It's him.
- [giggles] - All right, hey, man.
- Hey. - Hello.
- Hi, Justin. - Glad you decided to join us.
I wanna just introduce myself formally.
Pleasure--Nev. Just Justin?
- Yes. - Gary's just, like,
your fanfiction name?
Just clearing that up. - [chuckles]
- Justin, Shan. - Hi.
- Hello. - Of course, Angela, you know.
- Hello. - Hi.
Hi, nice to meet you. - Can I give you a hug?
- Sure. - Nice to meet you.
- Uh,
as Nev has probably already explained,
I'm cripply nervous about everything.
Uh, uh...
- I appreciate you telling me that though.
- Right, and I did think it would only be proper
to at least come out and actually greet you
and everything. Um, I haven't really,
I mean, not sure everything that's been discovered,
but, um, going through ending a previous relationship
has, you know,
put me in a certain spot,
where I just--
figuring out my next step in life.
- Justin, can just I ask you a couple of questions
just to clear some things up? - Sure.
- You said your "previous relationship."
Are you talking about your marriage?
You were married, right?
- Yeah. - Okay, and that's over now?
You're fully broken up? - Yeah.
- Similar to you, Angela just came out
of a very long-term relationship
that was heartbreaking. You're really the first person
that she's engaged with
since this big devastation in her life,
and I think--would be curious
to know, from what your perspective is, how you felt.
- You know, I try not to expect too much out of people
to avoid being hurt.
Um, so I'm kind of
in just this middle ground
of just--I find someone to talk to, we talk,
and
it just be something where I'm just not looking for anything
or expecting anything.
- From what Angela remembers, initially, after you had
commented on her-- one of her TikToks,
you had said, "Oh, we should meet up."
At that moment, when you asked her,
like,
were you serious about meeting up, or...
- Yeah, I was. - You were?
- But I mean,
you don't really expect anything.
You kind of just--it doesn't really mean anything.
- So you didn't necessarily think it would happen?
- Right. I didn't, um--
it's nothing new. I've always been like this,
even with my close friends. I don't always go through
with, uh, decisions. - Right.
- Not that I lied about anything,
but I also, um...
- You sugarcoated it.
Like, you keep me coming back for conversation.
- Yeah, I tried my best-- - I told them I was satisfied
with the conversations also.
It was relieving to get the good mornings,
the good evenings, "How are you doing?"
That's why I was so comfortable about the whole situation.
- And that's just genuinely, you know,
that is genuinely me,
but, uh, right now, I just don't know what I think.
I don't have any, um--
I don't have any concrete idea of...
♪ ♪
Where I'm going.
♪ ♪
- But I do think there's a big difference.
When we're trying to not to hurt people,
we create loose boundaries for who we might be,
rather than setting clear boundaries
for who we know we are today.
So I think it could be really impactful and powerful for you
to just set a clear boundary of, "Maybe I have to stop down,
"heal for myself.
"I'm not looking to date right now,
but I am happy to have met you."
- Yeah, um,
I definitely value our chatting and our friendship.
I don't see anything for the time being.
♪ ♪
That would be the most sincere I could be about it.
- I get that. I understand.
- How about you? What are you feeling,
now that you guys have finally--
- I can't see me be, you know,
not being friends with him.
I can't see me saying,
"I don't wanna speak to you ever again" right now.
I'm still open to being friends,
and I totally thank you for coming
and putting yourself out there.
Like I said, I learned a lot, and I do appreciate you coming
and explaining this to me in person.
I'm happy we met. - Me too.
- Okay.
- ♪ I found a reason ♪
- Okay, so then, I think we're gonna head back.
Um, so we can move on
from all of this.
Sorry if I was a little pushy,
but I really felt like it was the right thing.
I'm glad you chose the way you did.
- Right. - Yeah.
Y'all got to kind of get through this together.
So--pleasure to meet you. - Pleasure to meet you as well.
- And I'm just happy that you guys are gonna stay in touch.
- Yes. - This was my first time
on the case. It was an honor.
I can't believe you're actually the real person.
- [chuckles] - So this is very,
very fascinating.
Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you as well.
- It was a pleasure. - Thanks again.
- No problem.
- ♪ In the end ♪
- Drive safe. - Thank you.
- Take care. - See you.
- ♪ That's where I am ♪
- So what do you think?
- Yeah, stay in touch-- I don't think pursuing
any kind of relationship-- - No.
- But, you know, hey, who knows?
- Well, this was an adventure.
- You guys taught me a lot about myself and, um,
what I need to do to move forward.
- ♪ It all works out in the end ♪
- Thank you, guys, for showing me the finest
that New Jersey has to offer--
Angela included.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
[doorbell rings] - Angela, hey!
- What's up? How are you doing?
- Good. What's going on?
Give me an update.
- I tried to, like, stay back and forth with Justin,
but we never really got to talk too much.
- Well, are you happy that you got a chance to meet him
and kind of figure it all out?
- Um, yes. It gave me a taste of reality.
I think he's still a nice person.
It's just--I wish he would've been more honest.
- Yeah. - It wouldn't have led to me
being so disappointed, but love is gonna find its way to me.
I know that. - I'm sure it will.
It was really lovely
getting to meet you and spend time with you.
- Really nice talking to you and seeing you.
- Yeah, we'll talk soon. - All right, bye.
[camera chimes]
[doorbell rings] - Hey, Justin.
What's up, man? - Hey.
- How are you feeling? What about Angela?
Is that a friendship,
relationship that you're still keeping in your life?
- I mean, we've talked for a bit afterwards
and everything, and, uh,
but I don't think it was too receptive.
Some things need something to continue forward,
and if it doesn't have that, it--
more--like, more of an effort...
- Um, I think a lot of people will probably relate
to your anxiety. - Mm-hmm.
- From this experience. I know that wasn't easy.
But I hope that it's more positive than negative.
Uh, I appreciate meeting you.
I think you did the right thing.
- Yeah, I agree.
- All right, man, well, good luck with everything
and, uh, hopefully, everything will work out.
- Hopefully so. Thank you.
I appreciate y'all. - All right, later, man.
- I'm back... - Is she real?
We are glad to have you back,
because Sham has been talking to Phillip,
but she's not seeing the red flags.
- I'm already picturing our wedding.
I need to [bleep] know, like, what is this?
- This is it. - Whoa.
This is a one-of-a-kind home.
[doorbell rings]
- [gasps] Somebody's coming.
- Hello?