This story was originally published in 2015.
Casey Donovan was engaged and madly in love when she learned her partner of six years didn’t actually exist.
In an article for the latest issue of Take 5 magazine, the former Australian Idol winner has recounted her horrendous experience of being catfished by ‘Campbell’, who came into her life after calling her phone out of the blue and claiming a friend of a friend had passed on her number.
Although Donovan was enraged to have been called by a total stranger, they ended up speaking for an hour that night. Campbell remained in contact via phone and online, and over time Donovan developed serious feelings for him.
When Campbell finally agreed to meet Donovan after months of making excuses, the singer was “shocked” to find a woman there in his place. “She introduced herself as Olga, a friend of Campbell’s who I had spoken to over the phone before. ‘Campbell’s too drunk to drive so he’s sent me,’ she said,” Donovan, now 27, recounts in her article in Take 5.
The situation took an even more bizarre turn when, during a phone call at a later date, Campbell instructed Donovan to have sex with Olga, whom she had developed a friendship with. Although she was angry at first, she eventually relented.
"He kept on at me until I said I would. I wasn't attracted to women and felt completely used afterwards, but I figured it was worth it to impress my online boyfriend," Donovan writes.
For six years she continued to speak to Campbell, even though the pair still hadn't met in person, and they eventually became engaged. However, 'Campbell''s mystery unravelled when Donovan found his SIM card on Olga's floor and began second guessing his actions.
A year later, the disturbing truth emerged. "Olga finally admitted she had been Campbell all along. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my body," Donovan recalls. (Post continues after gallery.)
