30 Best Catfish Episodes Ranked

Believe it or not, "Catfish: The TV Show" is almost ten years old. Yes, it's been almost a decade since Nev Schulman and Max Joseph began helping to answer that all-important question: "Am I being catfished?" Each episode, our hosts take a look at someone's online lover and find out, simply put, if they truly are who they say they are.

Over the course of hundreds of episodes, Nev, Max, Kamie Crawford, and all the other guest hosts have overseen some of the funniest, saddest, craziest and loveliest stories ever to grace MTV — or anywhere else, for that matter. They've seen, filmed, thrown, and lived it all. From Katy Perry to creepy middle-aged guys, from true love to frenemies and beyond, the show has spent a decade solving the nation's personal mysteries. And to celebrate, here are the 30 best episodes 10 years of TV sleuthing for our viewing pleasure can possibly provide... Enjoy!

The list kicks off with an absolute classic case of catfishing. Or does it? Our hopefuls this episode, April and Dean, met seven years prior, in a chat room — remember those? After forming a connection, they spent a whopping seven years chatting, which is all fine except that they were 13 years old to begin with. And that makes them both 20 by the time Nev and Max get involved. Dean ghosted April at least once during that seven-year period, disappearing for two whole years with no explanation. He eventually resurfaces on Facebook, of course, but, wouldn't you know it, he's got no cell phone and no other way of contacting April. Could this be more catfishy? 

And then, it just kind of isn't. After the usual amount of sleuthing, our intrepid anglers discover the incredible truth ... Dean is just Dean. And despite his generally being into a relationship, April seems to have a massive change of heart, so massive in fact, that by the time the two-month catch-up rolls around, she's got a new beau. Soz Dean, we guess.

We're just two entries into the list, and already we've hit a hella-complicated, catfishy mess. So, let's break it down. Cherie first met Avion when he sent her a text claiming that they'd previously met. He also claimed that meeting came about when Cherie sold him a tablet. If all your catfish bells aren't ringing at this point, you've never seen the show. But it gets worse. He then turns revealing his real identity into a game. At this point, most viewers are screaming at the screen, but Cherie's into it.

The relationship blossoms into one of an adult nature, and the pair eventually arrange to meet. Avion, though, as we've all guessed by now, doesn't show and proceeds to ghost Cherie. Once the "Catfish" team is on board, however, Avion's fakery is quickly discovered. They even manage to persuade him to face his victim. Cherie, though, has already met him. Her internet boyfriend is actually a former friend out for revenge over a debt. Or as she puts it, someone "who doesn't know his place." Never loan money to your friends, people.

This is one of those "Catfish" episodes that left us with way more questions than answers. The thing is, they have very little to do with the actual case. But we digress. This story starts when Solana and Elijah meet on MySpace, so you already know something's up. The usual ghosting and claims of no phone or webcam apply ... until Nev and Max get involved. They discover Elijah's YouTube channel, so he's definitely got at least one camera. But it's not until they track him down that things get really interesting.

The team arranges to meet Elijah at a random house. When they arrive, Nev is more terrified than usual as the door opens. And that's because the guy (named Joshua) behind it is absolutely terrifying. For reasons that can only be explained by the presence of cameras, they follow him into the house. He then disappears into the basement, looking for all the world like he's going to come back with a skeleton dressed as his mom ... and never returns. He's replaced instead by Elijah, who actually isn't Joshua in a wig. Who is Joshua? Where'd he go? Why that wig? Sooo many questions, "Catfish!"

Ready for some more mind-blowing catfishery? This one proves that catfish just get more and more sophisticated. And the stories get more and more complicated. We barely have a handle on this one ourselves, and that's partly because it was just so ... involved. So, Jeanette and Kiara are cousins. Kiara's new girlfriend, Gaby, says she has a cousin, Patrick, who would be perfect for Jeanette. Gaby makes the online intro, and the pair get on like a house on fire. That is until Kiara tells her cousin that Patrick might be fake. And that Gaby is behind it. Confused? You will be.

Gaby catfishing her girlfriend's cousin turns out to be just the tip of a very catfishy iceberg. After Kamie and Nev do a deep dive into her life, they come across something huge: Gaby has been posing as a man and catfishing straight women for years. There's a whole Tumblr dedicated to her methods, which include image manipulation and posing as a casting agent. She's serious about her craft, is what we're saying. Gaby, or whoever she really is, takes an age to even pretend to be sorry, and we're pretty sure she'll keep doing it. So be careful out there.

This is one of those "Catfish" episodes that gave everyone the creeps. It also features a riled-up Max, which is always a good thing. Essentially, 21-year-old Ari speaks to 25-year-old Lanum for four whole days before declaring love. Now, that should be sweet, but this being "Catfish," we all know that's not going to end well. And it really doesn't. Because no one is ever called Lanum in real life. After the usual digging, Nev and Max make the discovery that they're always dreading. Lanum is just some creep.

Yup, he's actually a 43-year-old man who should really know better. But he doesn't, so he uses his internet persona to persuade young women to send him pictures of an adult nature. It gets worse. He also reveals that 40 or 50 women have been on the receiving end of his scam, and then he has the audacity to say that he really does have feelings for Ari. Max eviscerating the guy is the least he deserved. All together now: "You're that guy!"

Where Ari got to live one of Max's more successful fishing escapades, Chelsea wasn't quite so lucky. Turns out Max is far better at predicting men than women. Go figure. Anyway, Chelsea wants to know if Charles, whom she met on a dating site a year earlier, is for real. After the regular Google advertising, Nev and Max decide it boils down to two suspects: Chelsea's ex or her roommate, Dominique.

Max, though, is pretty sure it's the ex-boyfriend. The roommate, he says, just doesn't care enough to engineer all of this: "She's just too self-involved. She's more into herself than she is into her friend." And guess what? It's the roommate. She's not self-involved; she's in love with Chelsea. Nice one, Max. Despite all the fake profile nonsense, Dominique and Chelsea actually attempt a couple of dates. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn't work out. At least they'll always have Charles.

"Catfish" is often at its best when the entanglements don't involve romance, and this episode most definitely was not about romance. Even from the start, Gemini is looking for an elusive friend, rather than a love interest. She's still just as sketchy as a catfish, though, and Gemini wants answers. And, boy, does he get them. Once Nev and Kamie have deconstructed the complex catfish web, they come across a familiar phone number, at which point Kamie threatens to quit.

Step forward, Ashley Taylor, once-caught catfish who is the bane of poor Kamie's life. This time, though, the show takes a different tack. Rather than just give Ashley's lies more screen time, they decide to stage an intervention. Yes, an actual intervention on "Catfish." The concerned parties include two of her friends and one of her previous victims. Kamie gets her digs in, and Ashley may well have made a breakthrough. Let's hope so. No one is safe otherwise.

This is exactly the sort of episode that underlines the need for "Catfish" to be on the curriculum. Today's lesson: Don't fat-shame your cousin. She will tag you back, in a big way. Poor Antwane had no idea what had hit him by the time Nev and Max rolled out of town. He's been speaking to Tony for three years, and his cousin Carmen wants to make sure he wasn't being catfished. So she contacts the show, mentioning that the couple met on a chat line. Yup, an actual phone. No internet required.

Having called in the team herself, Carmen then leads them on a tour of Cincinnati's most attractive condemned properties. She even makes them believe Tony is in prison before grandly announcing that she is, in fact, Tony. Antwane is crushed. And her reason for breaking his heart? "You should never have called me a fat a** Kelly Price!" And even in the catch-up she's unrepentant, leading to a bust-up so huge that it had to be heavily edited. Don't mess with Nev, y'all.

This is another one of those frightening episodes where the catfish could well end up with a promising career in espionage. The lengths people will go to can be astonishing, which is something Andrea Russett found out the hard way. After discovering there were a bunch of fake profiles out there, featuring her, her family, and close friends, the YouTube star asked her fans for advice. They overwhelmingly voted for "Catfish," so Nev and co. dived in to the Fake Russett network.

The scammer had created accounts for Andrea, her brother, her mom, and even close friends, and they were good — so good that people who knew the real Andrea followed them. And the catfish was wily. There were regular logins, and family members liked each other's posts, mirroring the real Russett family. It took a lot of work to keep all this going. In the end, it was somehow just one woman running the entire network. But at least she had the good grace to own what she'd been doing. And she probably had a job interview with the FBI the next day.

As it turns out, Max occasionally isn't great at predicting men, either. He's convinced from the start that Brandon is fake, and the fact that said love interest claims to have had truck trouble for three whole years really doesn't help. Kelsie also can't believe that transport issues can really have kept him from her the entire time they've known each other. So she calls in the cavalry, who swiftly decide she's going to get her heart broken.

After basically calling Brandon a liar, they somehow persuade him to meet them and Kelsie. They pick an out-of-the-way location in Missouri — never a good sign — and a guy pulls up on a four-wheeler ... and a massive helmet. Is it Brandon? Yes. Yes it is. He's just really bad with trucks. And women. That said, he's totally into a relationship with Kelsie. She'd even met his mom by the catch-up. Happy endings all round.

There's surely only one reason this episode made the list, and it's not the Maserati. It's got to be the most polite rejection the show will ever see, but we'll get to that presently. Robin, bless her, is worried about the odd behavior her online other half, Wayne, has been exhibiting. For a start, she's only got one picture of him — after three years. Then there's the fact that he always calls from a private number, and she's never had a number for him. Oh, and he asked for $300 for a phone. Alarm bells should definitely have been ringing. 

But there's a twist! He's not fake — he's just super rich. Playing "Secret Millionaire" with Robin was just a test, and she passed with flying colors. There are some conditions, though, and they mostly involve lots of other women, which leads Robin to the aforementioned rejection: "That is not my cup of tea." Beautiful. British in its restraint, powerful in its principles. Love her.

Here's another reason "Catfish" should be taught in schools: Some people it seems, have a little too much time on their hands and no appreciation for those who might not. Caitlyn and Kenton met on Facebook, and things were going so well he suggested she and her daughter move to Kentucky to be with him. Caitlyn, though, had her suspicions. Firstly, he claimed to be Nev's personal trainer. In Kentucky. Why? Then there was the weird way he claimed to have done all the same things she had, but only after she'd brought them up. Mirroring like that is a massive red flag, FYI.

Kenton is horrified that there's any question of his identity and voluntarily comes to see the team to clear it all up. That's great, right? Except for the part where he completely turns on Caitlyn. He refuses to see that having a job and a two-year-old daughter might eat into your texting time, or that you might be tired after working and putting said daughter to bed. No, she's just a liar. Kenton, dear Kenton. Let's talk when you've got a job and a baby, okay?

This episode should be filed under life mirroring art. Because although catfishing definitely occurs, what's really going on ends up mirroring the fictional profile in so many ways, maybe not so much the vampire thing but basically everything else. Kya met Alyx on a fang-themed website, where he claimed to be from Sweden. But, as these things often do, it turned out that he was not, in fact, in Sweden.

Alyx appears to be a woman by the name of Danielle living in California. But when Nev, Max, and Kya arrive for the meet, there's a twist: Danielle is actually Dani. He's transitioning from a woman to a man and has just started hormone treatment. We'll let Nev take if from here, "They fall in love right there in the show. They go out on a date and they kiss." And that's the magic of TV sleuthing shows.

When is a catfish not really a catfish? When it's your husband trying to get closer to you. Yes, we know we've spoiled it, but you're not here because you've never seen the show, right? Anyway, Candic gets a little suspicious when a man approaches her online claiming they met on a retail app she uses for work. Even though, as we mentioned, she's married, she's intrigued and begins an online affair with her mystery shopper. 

Her feelings torn, Candic enlists the help of the "Catfish" team to find out who her new man might be, before she makes any life-changing decisions. This episode definitely brings the drama, particularly when it turns out that she not only already knows him — she's living with him. The twist here is that hubby Titus wasn't even trying to catch her cheating. He just wanted to know her better. It's almost sweet. Almost.

Oh, Daisy. Thousands of your mom's dollars on gifts for a guy you never met? Or spoke to? Do you not watch the show? Yes, after much soul-searching, money-throwing, and mind-changing, it turns out that you just can't trust people you meet on the internet. Who knew? Poor Daisy, though, was holding out hope that not only was Marcus real, but he would be into her and only her. He was not, or at least, that's what it sounded like. "Let's take it from here" could mean literally anything.

And it did. Marcus, who explained his behavior, i.e., horrific manners, by revealing that he thought Daisy was a catfish who was in no way looking for a relationship. And he doesn't have to thank anyone for gifts he didn't ask for, okay? Daisy, for some reason, continues to talk to this idiot because he now deigns to answer the phone when she calls. What a sweetheart he turned out to be.

Where some episodes showcase the technical ability of a good catfish, other could be solved without anyone needing to lift a camera. And this is one of those episodes. Jeff and Megan met on Facebook and bonded over their mutual love of dogs. It's as good as anything right? Jeff eventually hauls his cookies to Texas to meet his new gal, and she ghosts him. The thing is, Jeff is in the military and can't just be running off to Texas whenever Megan decides she might be open to it. 

In steps the "Catfish" team, who, with barely any effort whatsoever, discover a highly suspect account belonging to Brandy. It's basically identical to Megan's, just with no pics. It was that easy. Of course, it's her. Brandy explains that the other profile helps her escape her problems and that Jeff isn't like the others. Jeff, not massively impressed with the deception, politely considers her request for a relationship ... and then reenlists.

This episode surely made the list because watching Charlamagne Tha God crap his pants after warning Nev that you should never follow an angry man into his house is the stuff nightmares are made of. And it could so nearly have gone down like that, but, as it turns out, it's another case of lonely hearts and social awkwardness. And inappropriate husband behavior. When Miracle meets Javonni on Instagram, she believes he's a music producer ... one who never has time to chat and just happens to have a sick relative. So far, so clearly a catfish. But Miracle doesn't believe anyone would lie about illness like that.

Yes, Miracle gets her heart broken. Of course she does. But it's creepier than that. When Nev and Charlamagne arrive at the catfish's lair, the odd behavior and medicine bottles give the entire team pause. As it turns out, Javonni is a woman named Kara, and the medicine bottles are for her lupus. But when Miracle offers the hand of friendship to Kara, she ends up ghosted. What a mess.

Was this the ultimate expression of catfishing? When Courtney wrote to the show asking for help finding Isaak, the production team duly agreed. But when they contacted her with the good news, she had no idea what they were talking about. There was only one explanation: Her catfish wrote to "Catfish" to force a meeting with his victim. And this was after she'd told him in no uncertain terms to leave her the hell alone. 

Courtney and Isaak met on a dating site, but she broke contact when he sent pictures of himself that did not match his profile. Smart move. He clearly wasn't happy about that and continued to contact her. When that didn't work, he apparently asked Nev to do it for him. Called out for his record of creepy behavior, including offering free massages to any woman in the vicinity and then suing her for nonpayment, Isaak promises to change. Nev believes him, but no one else does.

A better title for this episode would have been "Lucas & the Hordes." It's a reference to the hundreds of victims claimed by Lucas, better known these days as Zac. So, if we already know this guy's a catfish, what's the point of the episode? To help Jayme name and shame that catfish! And the best way to do that? Catfish him. No, really. They actually have a female producer friend the guy, as he apparently only accepts friend requests from women.

Thanks to said producer, Zac eventually agrees to the inevitable showdown. Whether he's proud of his achievements or just a moron, he confesses it all to Nev. When events lead to Zac handing his phone to the host, though, it turns out that he's recording the conversation. But it gets so, so much worse. He's got hundreds of nude images featuring his victims, despite having told Nev they had been deleted. And then there's the list of current victims with notes to remind him where they are in his scheme. As a result, Nev and Max change his passwords, but that's hardly going to change anything, is it? They should really have thrown his phone in the river, a la Kidd Cole.

This episode actually ends up being kind of sweet, in a teen drama sort of way. But isn't that the point of being a teenager? Derek met Annabelle on Snapchat following a bad breakup and quickly fell for her. But in the usual "Catfish" vein, they'd never even spoken on the phone, so meeting in person with a huge number of cameras present was really his only option. Nev and Laura boil it down to two suspects: an ex-girlfriend and the sister of a friend. At this point, we kind of want it to be the ex.

Waiting for Annabelle at the usual remote location, Derek can't hide his surprise when his buddy Jeremy gets out of the car. Is this a twist? Was Annabelle Jeremy all along? Nope. He's there to support his younger sister, Becca. For 'twas her all along. Having grown up together, she invented Annabelle because she worried Derek saw her more as a sister. Which, apparently, he did not. They were still together at the catch-up. And we assume Jeremy was cool with the whole thing.

As Nev so coolly put it, this episode was "50 shades of cray." His words, not ours. Not that we in any way condone this behavior, but we have to admit, Jasmine's pretty confident. When Nick contacted the show, he had one advantage over most hopefuls. He'd actually met — and kissed — Jasmine. And yet, he had no idea what she really looked like. Intriguing, no? Jasmine is well-versed in getting what she wants, and what she wanted was for Nick to come over, put on a blindfold, and kiss her. No, we don't quite get how she did it, either. But she did. 

So, someone definitely existed, and Nick thought Jasmine was a pretty safe bet. Her socials always matched what she said she was doing, and there were a ton of live pics. What they found, though, was that Jasmine had done this before. Her pictures belonged to an Insta-model, and she'd used them to catfish Jay G, MTV reality star and, it seems, victim. Jasmine is actually Nicole, a super-smart, double-phone-wielding genius. And despite all the drama, Nick and Nicole remained friends. Probably just as well.

Where to start with Spencer and Katy? This poor man actually believed he was in a six-year relationship with Katy Perry. Yes, the Katy Perry. And, more than that, they're about to be engaged. How? Well ... we're still not sure, to be honest, but even after the catfish admits to Spencer's face that it's her and not the Grammy-winning singer that he's been talking to, he doesn't really believe it.

Alarm bells start ringing long before the reveal, though. As evidence of the real nature of the relationship, Spencer points out that Perry shares songs with him long before they're released, and she does it through YouTube. Uh-oh. Once Max and Nev track Harriet down, a trip to the U.K. to meet her makes little difference. Spencer emails Katy Perry (Harriet) when he gets back to tell her all about his vacation. Not a happy ending, guys.

We have to admit, it's a little concerning that even by Season 6 of "Catfish," we're still seeing episodes where people have become engaged to someone they've never met. And that is exactly the situation Colleen finds herself in with her fiancé, Tony. Now, admittedly, this particular instance turned out better than anyone could ever have expected, but the point stands. Not everyone is a Tony.

When it turns out that Tony is using fake profile pics, we're all convinced that this will end badly for Colleen. No one ever uses fake pictures for good ... except for Tony, that is. Although he was using fake pics, it was through caution and not malice. Hey, there's nothing wrong with making sure you're safe, right? Whether or not the ends justified the means, it paid off: Colleen and Tony are married and have a kid these days.

Despite the detective nature of "Catfish," this episode is as close as it's ever come to being a true crime show, although we're not really sure what purpose it served. Long story short: Nev and Max investigate the completely non-catfish behavior of a former catfish who went to jail for her catfish crimes. We're talking about one Shelley Chartier, who intercepted a bunch of texts between Paris, this week's hopeful, and NBA star Chris Anderson. She caused a huge scandal and was convicted in Canada, where she served her sentence.

Paris, though, isn't convinced Chartier won't do it again and sends Nev and Max to the edge of the world (read: Canada) to find out what she's up to. Along the way, we discover the convicted catfish is still wanted in the U.S. and could face 40 years for a separate scam. And that's about it, really. Chartier has little to say that isn't blaming someone else, and everyone leaves a little bit sadder than when they arrived.

Yes, it's another rare happy ending for "Catfish." But it all started so fishily. Savenia, declaring herself a catfish, asks the show to help Dylan, her victim. The show agrees, but their reply bounces back and Savenia gave no other contact info. So, when Dylan contacts the team for help finding her ... boom! We've got an episode! But it's not what you might be thinking. Savenia may well keep making allusions to her catfish status, but really, she's just being a teenager. 

Max and Nev, though, think she's fake. If the "Catfish" rules apply, anyone who claims they're a model is lying. And a model who works in a fast food restaurant? Puhleeese. But here's the kicker: She's totes real, and she works at Pizza Hut that she said she does. So, what's her big catfish secret? She photoshops her pics. That's it. Everything else was true. And now she lives in Virginia with her boyfriend Dylan.

Two happy endings in a row? Yes, but only if you're not Max, because he gets bitten by an ostrich. Outside of that, both Max and Nev are super heavy-handed with Lauren when she asks for help finding Derek. They met as teenagers and talked for eight years, but Lauren also got engaged and had a baby IRL while they were talking. She even ended her engagement when Derek blocked her on the socials. The boys spend a really long time preparing her for the worst, which, at one point, includes dragging her parents in to it. Bit far, lads?

Yes, actually, it was a bit far, and now you all look like miserable boomers. Because Derek is real. And not only is he real, but he's all in as far as Lauren is concerned. They immediately go on a date, and he meets her son. And when the catch-up rolls around, they're still together. Hence the justice in Max's ostrich wound. Even the birds knew he was being harsh.

Well, if nothing else, this episode taught us never to let Nev stand near a river when he's holding your phone. Yes, this is the bit where Mr. Smiley loses his cool and trashes a guy's cell. The dude definitely deserved it, though. Having scammed Lucille out of a literal ton of money, you'd think the guy would be just a tad bit remorseful. Nope. Hence Nev's athletic rejection of Kidd Cole and his complete nonsense.

Kidd Cole also reminded us that, however much you want to be talking to your favorite artist, you almost certainly aren't. And whoever you are talking to is probably getting something nefarious out of it. And if Kidd Cole is anything to go by, you might narrowly escape something much worse than losing your money. Just sayin'. Pay attention to the show. It might save you some police-themed trouble.

Sometimes, a catfish causes more trouble than they can possibly comprehend. And oftentimes, the most damage is done when romance has absolutely nothing to do with it. That's when catfishing can get closer to stalking than anything else, and that's exactly what happened to Falesha. Someone, using her pics and calling themselves Jacqueline, is spreading hate and drama all over the internet. And Falesha is catching all kinds of hell because of it. It's time to take a stand.

The catfish, Tracey, is super easy to find in the end. After all, she's made very little effort to conceal her real name, not really seeing, or maybe caring, why using someone else's identity to abuse people might cause some trouble. And her reason simply comes down to having taken an immediate dislike to Falesha. And loving "Hannah Montana." Miley Cyrus has a lot to answer for.

No list of the best "Catfish" episodes would be complete without an appearance by one of the strangest stories they've ever told. Poor Artis was in love with Jess, a model. Yes, we can hear your eye-roll. The father of three was desperate to meet her, so enlisting Max and Nev must have seemed like a good idea at the time. If only there has been some kind of sign... Anyway, after much brow-furrowing, the catfish is finally revealed, and it's a classic. Meet Justin!

One of the original and most bizarre "Catfish" villains, Justin's story is all over the place. Posing as a straight woman, he claims, serves a higher purpose. Jess exists solely to catch cheating men in action, and in no way to allow himself to talk sexy to men. Because, as he takes great pains to point out, he's "obviously ... not gay." Yup. He later claims the whole thing was a joke, but we're not buying it.

As insane "Catfish" stories go, this one probably deserves its place at No. 1. When Danny chooses to commit to Rosa out of all the women he's been talking to, he asks the "Catfish" team for help tracking her down. You see, Danny and Rosa live in the same city and somehow have never managed to meet. Also, she appears to have a reputation for being a bruiser. And yet, Danny can't wait to meet her. Can they help? Sadly for their hopeful, they very much can.

At the end of a convoluted journey, Rosa turns out to be Jose, an outcome Danny had clearly not anticipated. Rosa was created as a way to take revenge on Jose's school bully, and the whole thing clearly got very out of hand. Having walked out of the first meeting, it looked as though Danny was done for good. But then he did something no one else ever has, at least to our knowledge. He prayed with Jose on his second visit. And the men parted as friends. That's the power of "Catfish."