rogue

'I summarised the viral 50-part story about a diabolical husband so you can save 8 hours.'

TikTok user Reesa Tessa has captivated the internet with her unbelievable story of marrying a man she claims is a pathological liar.

@reesamteesa Just a small snippet of the things my ex husband lied about. #pathologicalliar #divorcetok #covid #reesateesa ♬ original sound - ReesaTeesa

Over five days she dropped a 50-part video series called "Who TF Did I Marry?!?" detailing the twists and turns of her year-long marriage to a man she nicknamed Legion. The series has gone viral and is trending on TikTok and Twitter with over 100 million collective views.

Before diving into the eight-hour-long tale, Reesa told her audience, "You're going to probably think, what in the world, there is no way this happened. Everything I say actually did happen. I never thought I'd be in some sort of lifetime movie, but I was. 

"Let's all take a deep breath. Buckle in because this was a f**king crazy ride and if you think it's crazy, imagine how I feel as the person who lived it and had no idea what I was dealing with. I thought I knew, but I truly had no idea who the f**k I married," she said.

How it started.

Reesa met her now ex-husband at the start of March 2020, just before the pandemic hit. She connected with him on not one but two dating websites, where he operated under two different aliases. This was the first red flag of what Reesa called "a United Nations of red flags".

During their first phone call, Legion told her he'd just moved to Georgia from California on a job transfer. He'd been promoted to the role of regional manager for a major condiment company. The move provided a new beginning for the divorcee, whose ex-wife had apparently cheated on him.

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Three days later Reesa and Legion went on their first date that nearly didn't happen. On the way to dinner, Reesa got a flat tyre and was left stranded at the petrol station. Legion became her knight in shining armour, rushing to her aid changing her tyre and then buying her a new one. At dinner, they bonded over their mutual desire to be married and have a family. He said everything she wanted to hear.

Lockdown.

Within two and a half weeks of the couple's meeting, the Georgia governor announced the state was in lockdown. The unprecedented event forced Reesa and Legion, who had been inseparable, to make a decision on where they quarantined.

Reesa's three-bedroom rental was chosen over the temporary studio apartment Legion's work had set him up in. He did however pay all of Reesa's rent and utility bills. 

The devout Christian admitted she felt uneasy about living with a man out of wedlock, but the financial support was too enticing. 

"And this is where this isn't going to make me look good but it's the truth. It was intoxicating to not have to worry financially about how to pay the bills," Reesa said. 

"It was a wonderful feeling and so I kind of pushed to the side that you're shacking up, but you don't have to worry right now."

Broken promises.

The relationship moved at lightning speed and by May 2020 the couple were engaged with a baby on the way. And so began the trend of Legion promising Reesa things and taking them away.

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It started with house hunting. Legion told his new fiancée he was financially comfortable thanks to his former professional career in Arena football. So much so that he had been approved for a mortgage of $750,000 and could make all cash offers on houses.

He even promised to buy her dream car, a BMW X5 with a cognac interior, but it never arrived. On top of that, every house he put an offer in somehow fell through despite the unbeatable conditions. Things just weren't adding up and Reesa began keeping an audio diary tracking her concerns.

A week after missing out on their first family home together, Reesa had a miscarriage and ended up having to have dilation and curettage surgery. Rather than taking his fiancée to the hospital though, Legion had an unmissable work meeting about his latest job promotion to vice president.

Watch: How to know if you're dating a narcissist. Post continues after video.


Video via YouTube/Psych2Go.

Lies unravelling.

Legion's lies began unravelling the day the couple signed their marriage certificate in January 2021. They had decided to get married in a registry office because of COVID-19 regulations. 

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Reesa knew in the back of her mind something wasn't right, so she memorised her new husband's social security number on the marriage certificate. She ran a background check but found nothing.

A month later, Reesa knew her marriage was over when she caught her husband sexting seven different women. He agreed to do couples counselling, but a fight over Legion's secret bank account exploded during a session, resulting in the counsellor telling them to break up

It was Reesa's new job that completely undid Legion's web of lies. As part of her new employment paperwork, she had to provide information about her spouse, including his name, age and social security number. This time the social security number Legion gave his wife was the real deal.

Reesa ran another background check, and it came back with some damning evidence. It turned out everything Legion had told Reesa was a lie. 

He had never lived in California, nor played professional Arena football. To top it off, his ex-wife was the one who filed for divorce after only six months of marriage and did not cheat on him.

His apparent wealth was also a complete lie. During his divorce proceedings, he had filed an affidavit with the court claiming he was too poor to pay the court fees. 

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A phone call to Legion's ex-wife and family revealed that these lies were just the tip of the iceberg. Legion had been faking daily conversations with family, friends and co-workers for over a year. 

He also wasn't a vice president of a condiment company, but instead a temporary forklift driver. 

The master manipulator had also faked the deaths of his stepdaughter and grandmother. Reesa even uncovered a third ex-wife.

A criminal background check uncovered Legion was a convicted felon with a warrant out for his arrest. 

Since Reesa's story has gone viral, the identity of her ex-husband has been revealed. TikTok user Danni_19 ran her own investigation and uncovered a Facebook account under the name Jerome JC Rome McCoy. 

Jerome came out swinging, accusing his ex-wife of making false accusations. In his video, he addressed her directly saying that there was a "real reason I left you," which Reesa left out of her story. 

Reesa responded urging her followers not to engage with Jerome's content. She said, "If you're curious as to who he is, I get it. But please don't engage because the engagement can turn antagonising, and this person is not well. So just don't. Don't antagonise him."

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Feature Image: TikTok @reesamteesa.