Ep 8. Mandy & Jose

Mandy and Jose have been chatting online for a year and have developed an intense connection. They both feel like they've found their soulmate in each other, but there's one big problem: they've never actually met in person.

Mandy is skeptical that Jose is who he says he is, but he's given her enough genuine personal information and pictures that she's inclined to believe he's real. However, it's become clear to her that Jose is reluctant to video chat with her, always coming up with excuses to avoid it.

Nev and Max are brought in to help Mandy get to the bottom of things. When they start investigating Jose's profile, they realize that most of his pictures seem to be stolen from someone else's Instagram account. The few pictures that appear to be genuine are either too blurry or don't show his face clearly. This immediately raises red flags, and Nev and Max are determined to find out who Jose really is.

As they dig deeper, they make a shocking discovery: Jose isn't actually Jose at all. In fact, the person posing as him is someone Mandy knows very well: her best friend, Courtney.

Courtney admits that she created the fake profile to test Mandy's loyalty and find out if she would cheat on her current boyfriend with someone she met online. Mandy is understandably hurt and angry, feeling like she's been manipulated and violated. However, Courtney argues that she was just looking out for Mandy's best interests and didn't mean to hurt her.

As Nev and Max try to help the two former friends come to a resolution, they find out that there's actually another layer to the story. Courtney has a crush on Mandy and was hoping that if Mandy fell for the fake Jose, she might realize her true feelings for Courtney. Now that everything's out in the open, the two must figure out where to go from here.

In this emotional episode of Catfish: The TV Show, Nev and Max are put to the test as they try to navigate the complex dynamics of Mandy and Courtney's relationship. Along the way, viewers are reminded of the dangers of social media and the importance of being honest with the people closest to us.