Why a ‘Catfish’ Participant Described Filming the Episode as ‘Bizarre’
Over the years, MTV’s Catfish aired some truly insane stories of people being fooled online into believing the person they were talking to was someone else. Sure, it makes for entertaining television, but these behind-the-scenes stories may make you think twice about emailing Nev and Max.
Filming is long and ‘bizarre’
One participant who claimed to have appeared on Catfish: Untold Stories accused the show of piecing clips of their story together to make it seem more interesting. After four hours of filming, the alleged participant barely got their 15 minutes of fame.
“I was on an ‘Untold Stories’ episode of Catfish Season 6, and it was all-around bizarre,” the alleged participant posted to Buzzfeed. “My 20-minute segment on the show took four hours to film, so you can imagine how condensed it is. They got the gist of my story correctly, but for the most part, they just pieced clips together to make the story as juicy as possible.”
The Buzzfeed user’s story and participation in the series Catfish have not been confirmed.
‘Catfish’ participants get paid to appear on camera
A potential catfish victim shared some shocking information on Reddit about the show’s process after someone is selected. According to The Sun, the participant revealed both the catfish and the victim get paid to be on the show.
“[Producers] said that if it went through, I’d get paid like $1,000 or around about that figure, and so would the catfish. They asked what social media I had for her and to message her asking if she’d be willing to come on the show and to mention that she’d get paid if she did. So, in short, the catfish knows this is coming long before Nev, and the Co-host actually contact them, as well as friends.”
The Sun
The catfish usually apply to be on the show
Most Catfish viewers would assume the victim applied to appear on the show so they could find out more about the person they’ve been talking to. However, according to the show’s executive producer, Marshall Eisen, the catfish contacts MTV more than you may think.
“It’s often the catfish we hear from first because they’re looking to unburden themselves,” Eisen told Vulture. “It’s not always the case, but it probably happens more than people realize.”
‘Catfish’ hosts don’t receive help from producers
Most Catfish fans know that the producers investigate potential participants and run thorough background checks before selecting them for the show. In fact, before Nev and his co-host get involved, producers know exactly how events will unfold. That doesn’t mean they offer any help during the investigation, though.
“We edit the investigations down,” Eisen said while speaking to Vulture. “They can be grueling. There have been very, very long days where Nev and Max are trying to figure it out, and we can’t help them.” Fortunately, they’ve gotten better at investigating since the earlier seasons.
“The guys are better at it now, but it’s not always obvious how to crack these things. We’ve condensed what’s taken them 10 hours in some instances into five or six minutes, but we try to show that it was difficult.”
Season 9 of Catfish premiered in February. Stream it now on Paramount+.
