More catfish-related heartbreak for Casey Donovan, who was famously exploited by a close friend pretending to be her internet boyfriend. The star’s dream of overcoming the drama with a new Aussie version of TV show Catfish has hit the rocks in spectacular style, with the show axed before filming even began.
WATCH: Casey Donovan talks about being being catfished
Now Casey and her intended co-star, former SBS The Feed presenter Patrick Abboud are both left to pick up the pieces, following confirmation that producers were unable to find any decent local stories to tell. The duo are said to be upset by the dumping.
Channel Ten confirmed the news after the story was broken by TV Blackbox.
‘We swear, we didn’t Catfish you!’ the network said in a statement. ‘Unfortunately, Catfish Australia is no longer part of our 2019 Pilot Week schedule. We cast out a line, but didn’t have the right bait to catch you a catfish in time.”
The Australian Idol winner, who was famously duped by a female friend for six years and believed she was in a relationship with a man named Campbell, said she was well-placed to host the show. The program was to be based on Catfish: The TV Show, an American reality/doco-style television series uncovering the truths and lies of online dating.
Casey recently told Andrew Denton she’s finally learned to forgive the person, named Olga, who masterminded her ordeal.
‘I think I have forgiven her – there’s some anger there definitely but I had to let it go to move forwards,’ she told Andrew Denton’s Interview.
Casey admits she was so convinced by the catfishing that she was coerced into having sex with Olga, at the fictional Campbell’s request.
‘I think by that time I was just willing to do anything to see him,’ she said.
‘My intuition was saying, “This isn’t right, don’t be a d**khead”. But I’d put so much time in this that he had to be real.’
Casey explained how ‘Campbell’ asked her to have sex with Olga, and then tell him about the encounter afterwards over the phone.
‘He was like “do that, then we’ll all get together and do that together”,’ she says before visibly cringing and exclaiming, ‘That’s too much,’ to the crowd.
The young star agreed to the bizarre request. It was her first sexual experience.
Reflecting on Olga’s motivation, Casey said she wondered if her friend was driven by repressed sexual desire.
‘I don’t know if she was a closeted lesbian that didn’t understand her sexuality so she tried to make other people feel like they had to do that,’ she said.
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