A woman was scammed into thinking she was dating an actor from Stranger Things and ended up divorcing her husband and sending money to the scammer. The ordeal suffered by McKala, a single mother from Kentucky, was shared on the YouTube show Catfished, where it was revealed she believed she was in a secret online relationship with Australian actor Dacre Montgomery, who plays Billy Hargrove in the Netflix series. Over a year, McKala shared online messages with a person she sincerely believed was Montgomery, despite never having seen or even spoken to him on the phone. McKala, an amateur actress and filmmaker, wanted so desperately to be with “Montgomery” that she filed for divorce from her husband and began sending him gift cards worth thousands of dollars. When she began to question how genuine their relationship was, McKala sought the help of the show Catfished. She explained how she had separated from her “very toxic” husband and joined an online creatives group, where she believes she met and “hit it off” with a user who later claimed to be Montgomery. McKala said: “I’m suspicious from the get-go, until he starts doing things that make me believe he is who he is.” In real life, Montgomery has been in a relationship with the model Liv Pollock since 2017, but McKala claimed the person she was talking to claimed the couple were unhappy and having issues. “He was venting to me after a few months about his partner, saying she is very controlling of him. He doesn’t get to do the things he wants to do. She’s always there. She’s always got to supervise,” she explained, “I kind of empathise with that because my ex-husband was that way.” After exchanging messages online for months, “Montgomery” asked McKala to be his girlfriend, despite the real Montgomery still being with his girlfriend. Victim Divorces Husband For Stranger Things Romance Scammer! www.youtube.com McKala was told that the pair were actually separated, but just keeping up appearances. She was further convinced by their lack of visibility on each other’s social media. She said: “He wasn’t posting about her. She wasn’t posting about him. The only thing that I have seen in the last two years...was a thing where she was posting about their five-year anniversary.” McKala dismissed the Catfished team’s concerns that she hadn’t spoken to him on the phone, arguing that his girlfriend was controlling and always “glued at his hip”. He sent her poetry, told her to watch Stranger Things and gave her an ultimatum between her husband and him. “Before I knew it, it was turning into $100, $200 gift cards,” she explained and estimated that in total she sent him around $10,000 worth. The Catfished team broke the news to McKala that there was no evidence the actor and his girlfriend were broken up, he made $150,000 per episode of Stranger Things and did not need gift cards. Investigations showed the cheque he had sent her was false and taken from the internet and even the lasagna he allegedly made was actually a picture taken from a Martha Stewart recipe. McKala was left heartbroken by the discovery but admitted that she was vulnerable to being taken advantage of by a scammer in this way. She explained: “If you’re someone like me, you’re afraid of abandonment and you’re a real big people pleaser and you’re very co-dependent... These scammers, they just kind of come in and they leech off that.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have shared their support for Notts County ahead of their play-off final on Saturday (May 13), and Wrexham fans aren’t taking too kindly to it. Wrexham finished four points ahead of Notts County in the National League race this year, with the teams proving the best sides in the division. Reynolds has made it clear that he thinks both sides should have received an automatic promotion and suggested that it’s unfair that Notts County now have to go through the play-offs if they want to play in League Two next year. Notts County are heading to Wembley to play Chesterfield in the final, and Wrexham captain Ben Tozer has made it clear that his club’s celebrity owners will be in attendance to cheer them on. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Speaking to talkSPORT, Tozer said that McElhenney watched Notts County’s semi-final win with the Wrexham squad during their recent trip away to Las Vegas. "Rob, he was actually with us, and took the time to stay up and actually watch the game and I think him and Ryan are flying over to watch the game on Saturday because that's something they want to honour,” he said. "We are genuinely rooting for Notts County because of the way they pushed us this season and feel like they're the ones who deserve to [earn promotion]." The comments have divided fans online, with plenty of supporters claiming it was “weird” that the owners should show such support to another side. “If true, I don't agree. I want Notts County to win the playoff final, but for me this is a no go,” one wrote on social media. “Cringe, give it a break lads,” another said. “They're just going to make it all about themselves and overshadow notts and chesterfield,” a Twitter user commented. “I'm all for respecting your opponents, and the Wrexham/Notts race was impressive, but this is weird...right?” one said. However, others were more supportive. One user wrote: “Too many people taking this the wrong way. It’s good sportsmanship; showing respect to a club that deserves every bit of it for their play this season. We all know they don’t deserve to be in the NL next year, and they’ll keep pressure on Wxm and R&R to keep the foot on the gas.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Pep Guardiola confirmed one starter and it was the player who never starts. When Rodri, in a moment that felt out of character, tried to throttle Morgan Gibbs-White, the main beneficiaries were not Nottingham Forest, who lost at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday anyway, but Kalvin Phillips. For much of his time at Manchester City, the supposed Yorkshire Pirlo has been the Yorkshire Sergio Gomez, belatedly brought on when victory has long been secured. Yet it has been worse: Gomez was hired as a largely unknown left-back, Phillips as one of the players of Euro 2020, a footballer transformed by Guardiola’s managerial hero Marcelo Bielsa. Yet when a defensive midfielder secured City the Champions League, it was Rodri, not Phillips. When a defensive midfielder was named the competition’s player of the season, it was Rodri, not Phillips. With the Spaniard now suspended, the Englishman is guaranteed that rarest of things – an appearance in the initial XI – at Newcastle on Wednesday evening. It will be just the fifth match he will begin for City: Rodri has started 61 in that time. He had only played eight minutes of football for City this season; after Rodri’s red card, he got 39 on Saturday. There could be 90 on Wednesday. If, for Phillips, it is a belated chance to kickstart his City career: perhaps a brief one, too, as Mateo Kovacic is on the comeback trail, should feature for some of the match at St James’ Park and, if Guardiola does not trust the Englishman, might take on the holding midfield duties at Wolves and Arsenal. But perhaps a chance in the Carabao Cup is a reward for Phillips’ obstinacy. He had the chance to leave in the summer, to admit defeat when West Ham came calling as they looked for a replacement for Declan Rice. City might have been willing sellers. Phillips was unwilling to go. “He decided to stay,” Guardiola said. “The club spoke with him. He doesn’t have much minutes, but he said: ‘No, I want to stay.” It is okay, it is perfect, he is a lovely person.” Being a likeable figure does not necessarily make him Guardiola’s idea of a central midfielder. The City manager said that “of course” it meant a lot that Phillips was willing to stay and fight for his place. That position, however, tends to elude him. The reality is that both of his league starts in their colours came after they had already won last season’s title. Since he joined City have lost two of the four games he has started and only five of the 66 he has not. He began last season’s Carabao Cup tie at Southampton. That scarcely counted in his favour. “It was the worst game I played as manager of Man City by far, so I didn’t recognise anything about that,” Guardiola said. It formed part of an awkward start for Phillips. He had shoulder surgery before the World Cup and was omitted after it when Guardiola deemed him unfit. If Bielsa’s idiosyncratic tactics, with man-marking all over the pitch, meant Phillips was reinvented from a decent Championship box-to-box midfielder to a seemingly world-class holding player, perhaps he has had to be deprogrammed from the Argentinian’s unique gameplan. Certainly Guardiola accepted he has got less from Phillips than the former Leeds manager. “Marcelo gave Kalvin the best of Kalvin in his career,” he said. “I’d love to have done with Kalvin what Marcelo has done to him. It is what it is. We have our own specific way to play. He sometimes struggles in a few things while the previous one was perfect. But he is open-minded and always wants to learn.” Rodri may be the ideal tutor, the player who has perfected the role in front of the back four for Guardiola, who occupied it himself for Johan Cruyff at Barcelona. “Rodri has been missed and his consistency is really important, he knows everything in the game,” Guardiola said. “Of course being outside, sitting [on the bench], seeing players in training sessions and what we are looking for in the training sessions and the meetings helps a lot. But every player has his own specifics. We bring Kalvin here for his quality. There are no twins in football. Everyone has their own personality. He has to be Kalvin Phillips.” Being Kalvin Phillips must have been a strange experience in the last 14 months. He has become one of football’s most decorated substitutes, winning everything, but with a watching brief. The two best performances of his time at City have come for England: in March’s away win in Italy and this month’s victory over Scotland in Glasgow. He has been the £45m afterthought, the player Guardiola usually only turns to long after the outcome is decided. And now, perhaps for one night only, perhaps for the crucial clash at Arsenal, the Yorkshire Pirlo has to prove he can be the Yorkshire Rodri. Read More Manchester City hit by travel headache ahead of hectic fortnight Kalvin Phillips to start in Manchester City’s Carabao Cup clash at Newcastle Pep Guardiola jokes he could play for much-changed Man City in Newcastle cup tie