MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show has become the ultimate guide to how to spot red flags when it comes to dating online, and we're about to share information about Mathan Cephas and "Leah Mayer." The show has featured some hard-hitting episodes. The series focuses a lot on authentic reactions and confrontations between people and their catfishes. This makes for some very entertaining reality TV.
Catfish: The TV Show season 7 is where audiences met Mathan and Leah. To say that this particular catfish story was a challenge would be an understatement. Host Nev Schulman and guest co-host Kamie Crawford have expressed how Mathan and Leah would go down in the show's history as one of the most difficult and different cases.
To briefly summarize, Mathan was a 22-year-old from Los Angeles, who had been in contact with Leah for nearly a decade. It was all business as usual for Nev and the Catfish: The TV Show crew, with Mathan’s suspicions gradually building because they’d never met in person, never chatted via video, never done voice calls, etc. Mathan admitted that he was fully invested in their relationship and was ready to get to the bottom of it all.
Leah Mayer Was Really Leah Lund
It all went south when Nev and Kamie uncovered the fact that "Leah Mayer" was actually Leah Lund. The change of surname was due to the fact that she was trying to bury her criminal record. After discovering Leah’s real name and analyzing her information, along with what she'd revealed to Mathan, it turned out that she had a dark, deep secret. This would soon turn out to be one of the wildest Catfish episodes to date. Back in 2015, Leah had been sent to Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Washington, where she’s from. She allegedly had given birth without medical attention, while high on heroin, according to Seattle Times. To make matters worse, the baby was nowhere to be found.
In February of 2019, Leah was arrested for first-degree armed robbery and driving without a license. In February of the same year, she was arrested for driving without a valid license and drug paraphernalia possession. On June 7, 2019, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office reported arresting Leah for drug paraphernalia charges, as well as driving without a valid license. She was released the same day.
Mathan Said He Never Got In Touch With Leah
Leah was 16 in 2015. That was when her name hit news reports and Facebook posts. People were trying to make sure that her baby was safe. This explained why she would ghost Mathan for months at a time. All they knew was that the baby was named Hazel. There were no other leads after that. The show fast-tracked from the time they filmed to a month later, and Mathan shared that he had never gotten in touch with Leah. He also said that he checked her Facebook. According to him, Leah shared that she was so happy that her man (her then-boyfriend) was finally out of jail.
As far as the missing baby goes, there isn’t a trace of her online. Fans have speculated about the baby, but nothing can be proven. Some fans speculate that Hazel never existed at all. There is also a photo circulating (allegedly from Mathan’s old Instagram) that seems to show that he actually met the memorable catfish, but that picture was quickly deleted. Much mystery surrounds where Leah is today. When she was last in the news, it was because she was in and out of prison. On the other hand, Mathan from Catfish: The TV Show is now a model. He has been working with big talents in the industry.
Sources: Mathan Cephas, Seattle Times