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The life of Manti Te'o came crashing down in 2012 when his grandmother and girlfriend both passed away on the same day. Manti then played college football for Notre Dame and shared his side of the story with the world after the game against Michigan State.
Manti dedicated that season to the love of his life, 'Lennay Kekua', who, as it turned out, never really existed in real life.
Unfortunately, Manti Te'o was involved in a catfish scandal and Lennay Kekua was a part of that hoax created by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo (now transgender, named Naya Tuiasosopo). Recently, Netflix Original launched a series - Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist - which tells the story of Te'o and Tuiasosopo in their words.
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Naya Tuiasosopo created a fake profile with the name Lennay Kekua and used the photographs of Diane O'Meara. The young college football star thought it to be real and dated her without meeting her in real life.
In 2012, Manti Te'o was informed that Lennay Kekua passed away in a tragic car accident. The news was shared by Lennay's sister, another character played by Tuiasosopo.
Let us dive deeper to find out more about Diana O'Meara, who was unaware that her pictures were used in the name of Lennay Kekua.
How is Diane O'Meara, the real Lennay Kekua, related to Manti Te'o?
Diane O'Meara's photographs were used to create a fake profile of Lennay Kekua by her former high school classmate Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
Tuiasosopo had contacted O'Meara and asked her to share the images, along with other pictures that were taken from her Facebook and MySpace accounts.
What does Diane O'Meara do now?
O'Meara lives in Torrance, California, and is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. According to her LinkedIn profile, Diane O'Meara is a strategic marketing expert for an art fair. She has a good amount of experience in the marketing field and has worked for many companies.
No images were found on her LinkedIn page, and she is inactive on other social media sites, as stated by The Cinemaholic.
How Deadspin broke the truth about the real Lennay Kekua?
In 2013, Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey of Deadspin published a detailed story about Manti Te'o's speculated girlfriend. They claimed it to be a hoax as the name Lennay Kekua did not have any background.
The article stated that despite her supposed death, there are no records of her funeral or passing away in official records. In fact, outside social media, there were no records of a person by that name even existing.
Now a decade has passed, and so much has changed in the life of Manti Te'o. He is now married to Jovi Nicole and has a one-year-old daughter with her. The couple have also revealed that they are expecting their second child.
