MTV’s Beloved Series Canceled After 13 Years on Air

MTV’s hit reality series Catfish: The TV Series has officially ended after a nine-season run. The show, based on Nev Schulman’s 2010 documentary Catfish, first aired in 2012 and concluded its final season in summer 2024.

On September 22, 2025, it was confirmed that the series had been canceled.

Catfish explored the realities of online dating, focusing on people trying to uncover the true identities of their online partners, often referred to as “catfish.”

As Schulman explained in the original documentary, “There are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank God for the catfish because we would be … boring and dull if we didn’t have somebody nipping at our fin.”

The TV series followed a similar premise. In each episode, Schulman and his co-host would receive requests from someone emotionally involved with a person they had never met in real life.

They would then investigate the online romance, often traveling to the hopeful’s location to see whether their partner was genuine or hiding behind a fake profile. During the COVID-19 pandemic, episodes were filmed online, with participants meeting via Zoom instead of in person.

Catfish was not just about exposing deceit. Executive producer Tom Forman said the show also highlighted authentic connections: “We’ve also stumbled into some love stories. We found people who are exactly who they say they are. We find people who are willing to get past an initial deception and really do make a connection at the end—in person and in real life. That’s been really heartwarming.”

The series also inspired two spin-offs. Catfish: Trolls, hosted by Charlamagne tha God, confronted online trolls and ran for three episodes in 2018.

Ghosted: Love Gone Missing, hosted by Rachel Lindsay and Travis Mills, focused on helping people reconnect with former partners or friends after being ghosted. Additionally, MTV and Wondery launched Catfish: The Podcast in 2020.

Catfish left a lasting mark on reality TV by highlighting the complexities of online relationships and blending investigative storytelling with real emotional moments. It also brought the term “catfish” into everyday language to describe people who use fake profiles online.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!