Nev Schulman and Kamie Crawford have found themselves investigating a sticky situation as they dive deep to reveal the truth behind an “entanglement” one married woman is having with a possible catfish online. In a PopCulture exclusive preview of Wednesday’s Catfish episode, the two online sleuths try to figure out exactly who is behind the emotional affair 23-year-old Zay has been having for more than five months.
Zay, a barber from outside of Tampa, Florida write into Schulman and Crawford about a “very delicate” situation, revealing right off the bat that she is already married, having been with her wife now for three years. When the two tied the know a year ago, Zay says “everything changed,” and she began to seek out other connections to soothe her angst.
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“I was in a lot of pain,” she writes. “I didn’t have anyone I felt like I could talk to until I met Jayda.” Jayda, a stunning blue-haired woman from Atlanta, slid into Zay’s DMs almost half a year ago, and the two developed a strong connection right off the bat. “Before I knew it, I was all in for her,” Zay admits. “Because I was trying to hide things from my wife, we kept things on DM.” Calling her online sweetheart “amazing,” Zay can’t help but gush over the “incredibly caring” woman who has her so confused. “I’ve never met anyone like her before,” she continues. “She lives on the edge and tries to do something new every day, which is so dope to me. …I’ve never had someone in my life who cared for me like that.”
Two months into talking with Jayda, Zay asked if they could meet in person, despite knowing that stepping out on her marriage “wasn’t OK.” Jayda asked that Zay tell her wife about their relationship before they met, which caused her to “bite the bullet” and admit everything about her online affair. Despite coming clean, Zay’s offers to meet have continued to be turned down by Jayda, whom Zay now suspects might not be who she thinks she is.
“I know that having an emotional affair isn’t OK and I might not deserve a happy ending,” Zay concludes her plea to the Catfish team, asking them to “look beyond” what she had done to find the truth. As she is still married and living with her wife, things are complicated, with Crawford quipping that the “entanglement” Zay has found herself in seems similar to that of another Jada — Jada Pinkett Smith. Despite the moral gray areas surrounding this case, Schulman agrees to get to the bottom of Jayda’s real identity.
The Dancing With the Stars competitor noted, “Obviously I don’t encourage cheating — whether it’s physically or emotionally — while you’re in a committed relationship,” but promised to do his best to track down the truth. Catfish: The TV Show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. For more on Catfish from PopCulture, click here.
