Lee Swift entered the second season of The Circle as a catfish, but we have everything you need to know about the competitor's real life. Although he opted to enter the Netflix reality competition under the false guise of River, a 24-year-old college student, Lee Swift's actual background is full of interesting facts fans of The Circle will want to know. From his real age and job to his personal life, here's everything to know about the catfish behind River.
Lee Swift was born on September 14, 1962, in Monett, Missouri. At 58 years old, Lee is the oldest contestant to enter The Circle. Lee had an impressive run on the Netflix social experiment's second season, debuting on the first episode and reaching the finale as a finalist vying for the $100,000 prize. During his experience on The Circle, Lee used pictures of his friend, Doak Rapp, to pose as the fictitious River. Unfortunately, Lee placed fourth in the final episode, just shy of claiming the winning title. Although he was unsuccessful in winning the second season of The Circle, Lee is nothing but accomplished in all other fields of his life.
Lee believed he had a leg up on the rest of his competition due to his previous work as the "original catfish." Although he has never acted as a catfish of MTV proportion, Lee identifies as the first catfish because he has a career as an author where he used a pen name. Although this ended up not being enough of an advantage to win him the reality series, it is indicative of Lee's creative mind and success as a writer. Lee has published over 35 novels under the pseudonym Kris Cook. Some of Kris aka Lee's most popular books include the Mockingbird Place series, a gay college romance collection, the Secret Diaries series, a set of BDSM stories, and the Eternally Three series, an erotic fantasy saga. Although it may appear taboo, Lee has done well for himself as an author of erotic literature.
Lee Swift's exact net worth is unknown due to his work as an anonymous author outside of his experience in The Circle, but with a range of novels under his belt, there's no doubt the author is doing fairly well for himself financially. Aside from working as an author, Lee's IMDb credits him as a director for the 2004 short film titled A Single Wish. True to his gay alter-ego River, Lee lives his life as a proud gay man. Lee currently lives with his partner, Stephen, in San Angelo, Texas. It's unclear how long the two have been together, but the pair recently celebrated Stephen's 56th birthday on March 29.
Although River was an interesting character to catfish as, Lee's actual life is much more interesting. As a 58-year-old erotic novel author, Lee Swift is one in a million. Despite not winning as River on The Circle, Lee Swift is certainly winning in many other areas of his life.
Source: IMDb