Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who has
admitted to hoaxing Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o into
falling in love with a non-existent woman, has said that he himself
is gay, or at least confused.
Tuiasosopo fooled Te'o into believing
that the girl of his dreams had died of cancer. In fact, the woman
known as Lennay Kekua never existed.
The story inspired countless fans as
Te'o went on to lead his team to victory just hours after learning of
the death of his grandmother and girlfriend.
In his first interview to be broadcast
on Thursday and Friday, Tuiasosopo told Dr. Phil that Te'o was
“unequivocally” not involved in the hoax.
“Here we have a young man that fell
deeply romantically in love,” Dr. Phil said in a Today
interview, referring to Tuiasosopo. “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 says, 'Well, when you put it
that way yes.' And then he caught himself and said, 'I am
confused.'”
Tuiasosopo said the person Te'o was
speaking to on the phone was him.
“There are many times where Manti and
Lennay have broken up. But something would bring them back together.
Whether it was something going on in his life or in Lennay's life,
in this case in my life.” (Watch
the entire Today segment at NBC.)
(Related: Manti
Te'o 'faaaar from' being gay.)