Lee Swift is a writer, podcaster, and reality TV personality from Dallas, Texas. He was born September 14, 1962, in Monett, Missouri, and has been with his husband for over 37 years — a detail he is openly proud of and posts about regularly. He goes by @leeswiftauthor on Instagram with 84,900 followers, identifies simply as a Writer in his bio, and describes himself as a “S2 @TheCircleNetflix Creator.”
He is also, as it turns out, one of the most accomplished catfish in reality TV history. And he did it by being almost completely himself.
‘The Circle’ Season 2 – River
Lee Swift entered “The Circle” Season 2 not as himself but as River — a 24-year-old from a small Texas town, recently single, a student and waiter, and, notably, gay. The photos were borrowed from his real-life friend Doak Rapp, a young man he knew from Dallas.
Doak — the real River — is actually a straight man in a relationship, living in Dallas rather than the small town Lee invented, and was entirely on board with the arrangement. After the first episodes aired, he commented on Lee’s Instagram post with “Much love my friend.”
Lee’s reasoning for catfishing was straightforward: if people knew his actual age and profession, some might go easy on him or see him as the most likable — both of which would place him at a disadvantage. He also had a practical preparation strategy. He had his college-aged niece give him a crash course in internet slang before filming — a session that covered the deep cuts but somehow missed YOLO and FOMO, which he admitted was a gap.
Lee called himself “a professional liar” on the show, pointing to his career writing under pen names as evidence that he had been catfishing before anyone used the term. The other contestants suspected something was off — Deleesa Carrasquillo told Chloe Veitch her theory — but Lee’s emotional authenticity carried him through. When he had the power to block his biggest competition, he couldn’t do it because it would mean eliminating a friend.
He finished fourth in the finale, just short of the $100,000 prize. His reveal — the moment the cast finally saw who River actually was — was welcomed warmly. They were impressed. Some of them cried. Lee definitely cried.
In the show’s “Where Are They Now” segment, Courtney, Khat, Savannah, and Bryant all named Lee as the cast member they talk to most. That is either the kindest thing reality TV has ever produced or the most effective long game in the show’s history.
The Writing Career
Lee’s day job is considerably more prolific than most people realize. He writes romance novels under several pen names, most notably Kris Cook, and frequently co-authors with his mother, Lana Lynn McLemore. He has had over two million words officially published.
His catalogue leans heavily into LGBTQ+ romance and erotic fiction — titles include “Cupid’s Arrow,” the “Mockingbird Place” chronicles, “Primal Desires: Texas Wolf Pack: Shifter Romance,” and the “Morvicti Blood” series.
His Instagram shows a recent release called “Morvicti Execution” — an 8-episode thriller/horror audiobook co-written with Lana McLemore, edited by Kyle Baliev.
The combination of supernatural thriller and cozy romance novelist is very on brand for a man who once convinced a house full of strangers he was 34 years younger than he actually is.
What He Is Up To Now
Lee’s post-Circle life has expanded in several directions at once.
He co-hosts “Ranting Out Loud” at romanceoutloud.com with the tagline “Talk. Laugh. Bitch.” Episodes cover everything from vampire mythology to navigating Alaska to an episode titled “No Fats, No Fems” — the kind of range that reflects someone who has spent 37 years building opinions and finally has a platform for all of them.
He celebrated 37 years with his husband this year, documented with characteristic warmth on Instagram. He attended a Mom and Son Night Out with his mother to see the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas. He posts birthday dinners, coffee runs with friends, and meet-ups with fellow Circle alumni who have stayed in his orbit.
He also has a Cameo, a merch line, and a TikTok — all linked from his Instagram highlights — which suggests that whatever the “Circle” gave him in terms of audience, he has been working to keep it.
The Legacy
Lee Swift came into “The Circle” as the oldest contestant in the show’s history at the time, playing one of its most elaborate catfish personas, and left as one of its most beloved alumni.
The gap between who River was and who Lee actually is — older, warmer, more accomplished, more emotionally present — was the whole joke, and also the whole point.
“I think when I was a 13-year-old gay kid in West Texas and feeling so alone, so hopeless, how great it would have been to have Instagram, and Twitter, and TikTok, and be able to see, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not by myself,’” he said after the show. “I love it. Yes, are there things we need to make it better, for sure. But I think we can spread a lot of love through social media.”
The man who catfished as a 24-year-old to avoid being liked too easily ended up being the person everyone liked most. He is still writing about love in Dallas, still married to his husband, and still the person the Season 2 cast calls first.
“The Circle” Seasons 1 through 7 are streaming now on Netflix.
Read next:
- Who Is Chloe Veitch? Her Netflix Career & Where She Is Now
- Where Is Deleesa Carrasquillo (Trevor) From The Circle Season 2 Now?
- Where Is Joey Sasso From ‘The Circle’ Now?
- Who Is Shubham “Shooby” Goel? ‘The Circle’ Star’s Career & Netflix Shows — Where He Is Now
- Where Is Sammie Cimarelli From ‘The Circle’ Season 1 Now?
For more “The Circle,” click here.
Want the daily reality TV drama — no spam, just the good stuff?
Subscribe
Leave a Reply