The Only Way Ari Could Share Her Secret? 'Catfish'

Remember the early days of Catfish, when no one knew what the show was so those who lied on the internet were pretty surprised they were being called by a TV show? Those days are gone. Now that Catfish has stuck around for four seasons, pretty much everyone knows what's up when they get a call from Nev and Max — and in some cases, those who are doing the catfishing are using the show as a vehicle to expose their secrets in a safe space, which seems to be exactly what happened in this week's episode. In "Jamey & Ari," Ari would only meet Jamey if it was on Catfish because she had a major secret she was hiding.

And as soon as we were introduced to Jamey, it was incredibly easy to feel sympathetic for the poor guy. He was so obviously outside of his comfort zone, but knew he had to contact the show if he wanted a chance to meet the girl he'd fallen in love with after meeting on Plenty Of Fish. So even though he seemed almost painfully shy to be discussing his love life on national television, he did what it took, and Nev and Max did their part by researching to figure out what exactly this big secret was that Ari was hiding.

And the more it looked like the secret that Ari was hiding was that she was married, the angrier I got at her. Here was this sweet guy doing everything it took to be with her, and this girl is possibly married? And she made him go on TV to discover she's been lying on him when it's so obviously something he really, really doesn't want to do? But then, when Nev and Max finally met up with Ari, it quickly became clear that her ultimatum wasn't so she could embarrass Jamey. It was actually because she never in a million years imagined that he would actually hear back from Catfish, so she'd never have to expose her secret: Ari is transgender.

Even though Ari's known she was a girl from a young age — and she's seen it's possible to find guys who are cool with the fact that she's trans, like her ex, Caz — it's obvious that she's faced a lot of judgment from people in her life, because she was so terrified to hear what Jamey might say about it that she refused to talk to him at all after they met. It broke my heart for her.

I do have to give Jamey credit, though. He handled the situation like a pro, even though Ari had dropped a major, totally unexpected bomb on him. And the good news? Ari seems to be a bit more comfortable in her skin these days, even if getting over Jamey was tough.

Basically, I just want to give Ari a hug. I'm glad she's realized there is someone out there — probably lots of someones — who will love her for who she really is, and she truly deserves to find that person.

Image: MTV