BY DC CUEVA
Max Joseph has been Nev's colleague and conscience on most of the online mysteries that they've encountered across America, and in the few times he's not been by his side the man with the grey hair has been a film director. In 2015, he took some time off from Catfish to focus on his feature film directorial debut, We Are Your Friends, which documented an L.A. DJ played by Zac Efron as he tried to make it in the music industry and see what life would be like with his friends. And with things starting to pull in the right direction for the ladder, Max felt it was the right time to step aside to pursue his lifelong passion of being behind the camera than being in front of it.
Unlike what we've seen on The Challenge of late, those who watch Catfish know that there's a pattern that's followed in EVERY episode: Nev & Max get to meet those who sent an email to them to discuss more about those always puzzling stories they tell them, then they go to work to figure everything out on the stories that baffle them and everyone watching, from searching online profiles and photos to getting in contact with those who have a connection to these twisted stories.
Of course, the big moment of every episode is always the reveal of the person at the heart of the matter: most of the time, it's someone who flat out played their subject and decided to use someone else's identity as their own... other times it is exact person that they got to see all along. It's most especially the case with the former that Nev & Max get to talk to those who made a phony profile that they've been able to get right down to business and together with the subject that they shred the one that their subjects wasted years and months of for nothing.
On the finale of a summer season that was delayed by false sexual harassment charges brought to the lead figure of the film that inspired the TV series, the last investigation for MTV's ultimate bromance (outside Pauly & Vinny) saw them encounter uncover the online romance of Nick & Jasmine. There, they looked into figuring out if the man he kissed on a mysterious rendezvous while being blindfolded was the girl he's been seeing online, or if it was someone who was totally different. And while they were on the prowl to look for Jasmine, Nev & Max found someone who those who follow what this site calls the Trifecta is familiar with from two MTV seasons of a few years ago.
Five years ago this summer, New Yorker Jay G. went onto Season 29 of The Real World in San Francisco, leaving behind his Bronx family and his ex Jenna Compono - who herself would later become one-half part of an ongoing Challenge romance with Zach Nichols. Jenna later invaded the Bay Area as part of a group of exes who took up residency in that house to rekindle old flames... and it was this twist on what would ultimately become Real World Ex-Plosion that inspired Ex On The Beach, which debuted overseas that year and debuted in the U.S. earlier this year - which also starred fellow roommate, Challenger and dad, Cory Wharton. There, Jenna got to expose Jay as more than a ladies man and club promoter, but also a womanizer who cheated on her before she made her way to the west coast.And while Jay is best known to those who watch The Challenge for him quitting a final that they were put in as lay-ups on Battle of the Exes 2 and getting crucified at the drinking table by TJ Lavin and the social world, this past weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the saddest day of Jay's life. Before the exes arrived, a phone call he got from his dad back home told him that while she was going through therapy, his cancer-stricken mom, Lucy Mitchell, died unexpectedly in the hospital. He was overcome by emotion in crying for the first time since he was a kid, and flew home to tend to her funeral before flying back to continue his Real World experience. While it would be seen by viewers some five months later, it remains one of the most memorable moments in the show's twenty-five year run. It was also featured in one of DCBLOG's first In-Depth longform stories, while this blogger sported a Craze Watch I received from Jay while I was in Las Vegas earlier this month.
In the clip below - as Nev & Max were doing their usual flawless job of being MTV's two resident Sherlock Holmes, Nick sent the guys what they needed in info on her whereabouts and her friend list on Venmo. Included in a screenshot of a list of those who were on the PayPal-owned mobile payment service (where $12 billion changed hands in the first three months of this year) was Jay G., and the guys had discovered that he had ties to the channel as a Real World alum.
When they searched for him on Twitter, Nev was left to say, "That's so random. That's a weird coincidence that one of her friends happens to be this guy from a bunch of other MTV shows." They then sent a DM to him which simply asked him to talk and to leave back a voicemail on Jasmine.
After doing some digging, it's revealed that Jasmine may have inside connections that are too close to home 😳 You don't want to miss the season finale of #Catfish TONIGHT, at 9/8c on @MTV! pic.twitter.com/sjn6bQRjx0— Catfish (@CatfishMTV) August 29, 2018
When the guys made the short trip down to Philadelphia to continue their search of Jasmine, Jay gave them a call back. Below is their transcript.
● MAX: "This is Max. Who's this?"
● JAY: "This is Jay. I had a message to call you guys."
● NEV: "Oh yeah, Hey Jay. You had something to do with MTV, right?"
● JAY: "I did Real World and The Challenge."
● MAX: "Oh wow, a two-fer. So Jay, we're here in Philadelphia helping a young man and he saw her Venmo friends, and one of the people she was connected to was you."
● JAY: "I have a Venmo account, but I haven't used it in a long time."
● NEV: "But I guess more importantly, did you ever have a financial exchange with a girl named Jasmine?"
● JAY: "No, I don't think I've ever sent anybody money on Venmo like that. Would it just be that she has my phone number stored and I'm coming up as her friend, like one of the contacts?"
● NEV: "Maybe."
(Max gives Jay phone number in the 917 area code in the NYC area)
● JAY: "Ooooh, hohohohaha... I have her stored."
● MAX: "Really?"
● JAY: "I do, haha."
● MAX: "Who is it?"
● JAY: "...as Instagram Leilani Miss New York."
● MAX: "How do you know her?"
● JAY: "Wow. It was Instagram. She probably DM'd me and we started talking, and she was cute. So, ended up getting her phone number, and then talking over the phone, like, text messages."
● MAX: "Did you ever guys make plans to go out?"
● JAY: "No."
● MAX: "Did she ask you for money?"
● JAY: "No, definitely didn't send her money."
● NEV: "She almost had you. She's catfished you, bro."
● JAY: "I know."
● MAX: "Block her number Jay."
● JAY: "Alright, later guys."
On a side note to an insane story that they called "the 50 Shades of Cray," at the end of last night's season finale Max got to say one final farewell to those who enjoyed his company in the 100+ episodes of a series that made him and Nev household names. It comes during the same week that an alum of Jay's Real World Ex-Plosion season made a big splash on The Challenge Final Reckoning... more on that here this weekend.
— Catfish (@CatfishMTV) August 30, 2018
- I AM DC
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