Alton man's tale featured in 'Catfish' show - Alton Telegraph

ALTON — Charles Rodney Teague didn't believe the initial phone calls he received from producers of the MTV reality show "Catfish".

After his friend Zack contacted the hosts of the show explaining his situation, Teague couldn't believe they were actually responding.

That was, until hosts Nev Schulman and Kamie Crawford video chatted with him.

After the video chat, Teague became one of the newest additions to Catfish — a reality show that follows the journey of couples who have online relationships but have never met in person.

Teague, a Safelite mobile repair glass technician in Alton, was a victim of catfishing after meeting a woman named "Nikki" on the online social networking site IMVU.

He said the show wasn't scripted and everything was completely real. Teague was never given a script or told what to do, other than explain his story. The episode recently aired and can be revisited on Hulu, YouTube TV and MTV, among other streaming platforms.

"It was actually the experience of my life," Teague said about the reality show. "I had a personal security guard and an assistant. I got to fly out of my state and try new things. It felt pretty good."

Teague and the Catfish crew flew to Florida to track down Nikki. He said he became weary of the online relationship since he and Nikki never video chatted and only communicated through text.

"When I found out some things about her that the hosts found out, it made me upset," Teague said.

Without spoiling the episode, Nikki wasn't who she said she was. Teague was obviously upset, but kept his head up and went through with everything.

And the two still keep in contact.

While on the show, Teague decided to use his artist name, 2ooTurntTeague, as he is an aspiring musician. Since being on the show, he's taking music more seriously and has a song streaming on all music platforms.