The hit US reality TV show Catfish is being adapted for the UK, with Julie Adenuga and Oobah Butler set to host.
The series focuses on internet users who assume false identities to date people online, with the hosts helping uncover the ruses.
Originally, the premise was based on a hit 2010 documentary film, also entitled Catfish, which was directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.
Butler is a journalist and filmmaker known for a number of elaborate public pranks, and for authoring the 2019 book How to Bulls*** Your Way To Number 1.
In 2017, Butler managed to get a completely fictitious restaurant, called The Shed at Dulwich, to become London’s top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor.
After the non-existent restaurant made headlines around the world, Butler began sending lookalikes of himself to appear in interviews.
In a new piece written for The Independent, Butler discusses the ways in which artificial intelligence can be used to deceive people online.
Butler’s co-host Adenuga is also a journalist and radio presenter who launched the creative media house Don’t Trust The Internet last year.
Catfish UK debuts at 9pm on 21 April on MTV. The series will run for four hour-long episodes, airing weekly, with six more episodes planned for later in the year.
