The mastermind behind the Manti Te’o hoax was lovestruck — and is “confused” about his sexuality according to a new report.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo said in an interview to run tomorrow and Friday on “Dr. Phil,” that his relationship with the college grid star was basically a love affair.
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“This was a deep, romantic connection that was two-way between Ronaiah and Manti,” psychologist Phil McGraw told “Entertainment Tonight.”
McGraw told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview aired this morning, that Tuiasosopo is “confused” about his sexuality.
“Here we have a young man that fell deeply, romantically in love,’’ McGraw said.
“I asked him straight-up, ‘Was this a romantic relationship with you?’ And he says yes. I said, ‘Are you then therefore gay?’ And he said, ‘Well when you put it that way, yes.’ And then he caught himself and said, ‘I am confused.'”
Te’o led his Notre Dame football team to an undefeated regular season. He inspired millions of fans by playing through emotional pain caused by the Sept. 11 death of his grandmother and loss of his girlfriend a day later.
But Te’o’s dead girlfriend “Lennay Kekua” turned out to be an online hoax — hatched by acquaintance Tuiasosopo and embellished by the star linebacker. Sports Web site Deadspin uncovered the the massive scam two weeks ago.
Tuiasosopo told “Dr. Phil” that the fake, online romance was consuming his life.
“I wanted to end it because after everything I had gone through, I finally realized that I just had to move on with my life,’’ Tuiasosopo said. “I had to start just living and let this go.”
Tuiasosopo, a Christian musician from Southern California, sounded like a TV show producer explaining how Te’o and online gal pal Lennay would fall in and out of love at his discretion.
“There were many times where Manti and Lennay had broken up, but something would bring them back together whether it was something going on in his life or in Lennay’s life, or in this case, my life,” Tuiasosopo said.