By Bonnie McLaren
Newsbeat reporter
If you’re a regular Netflix watcher or dating app user, you might recognise Cecilie Fjellhøy.
She was one of the unlucky stars of The Tinder Swindler – the streaming giant’s hit documentary about fraudster Simon Leviev.
Cecilie is one of the women who says Leviev – real name Shimon Hayut – posed as a wealthy heir to dupe them out of thousands of pounds.
Five years on, the 34-year-old is ready to find love again.
This time she’s appearing on Celebs Go Dating, a show where a cast of stars – often from reality TV like Love Island and The Only Way Is Essex – go on dates with non-celebrities.
“I don’t feel like a celeb, I don’t want people to think that I look at myself as a celeb,” says Cecilie, speaking at the series launch.
“But I really appreciate that my face is actually known around the world,” she tells Newsbeat.
“And I’m blessed that I’m able to do Celebs Go Dating and show a different side to me.”
After sharing her experience, Cecilie is perhaps more optimistic about dating than you might expect.
Image source, E4
Cecilie appears in Celebs Go Dating alongside stars from TOWIE and Love Island – and there’s 80s popstar Sinitta
“Dating for me has always been fun. And I always try to continue to have fun with it,” she says.
Celebs Go Dating is opening her eyes “to new things”, she says, before joking: “Because I’m known for picking bad people.”
And yes, she even says she’s back on Tinder.
“I never looked at Tinder as the one to be blamed for what happened to me because I met him in real life,” she says.
“But I think I went a bit too quick back on the apps.”
Image source, Getty Images
Fellow Tinder Swindler star Pernilla Sjoholm and Cecilie (right) are now close friends following their ordeal
Following The Tinder Swindler’s release, Cecilie received a largely sympathetic reaction from viewers, but she was also subjected to misogynistic comments.
She says some in the incel movement – men who refer to themselves as involuntarily celibate – labelled her a “gold digger”, and thought she deserved to be scammed.
Cecilie’s expecting some backlash to her dating show appearance too.
“Trolling always happens – I’ve learnt not to read it,” she says.
“I think it’s important to shine a light on those comments.
“All of these type of things can be dangerous. It’s fun to laugh about it, but it can be dangerous in the long run.”
Cecilie campaigns for more awareness surrounding romance fraud – and she says she wants tailored training for police and healthcare professional so victims can feel better supported.
She also wants to help remove some of the stigma surrounding scams, so people feel less ashamed about reaching for help if they are victims.
And she says it’s “disheartening” that Leviev is a free man.
Image source, NTB Scanpix / Alamy Stock Photo
Simon Leviev, pictured after his 2019 arrest in Greece, was released from an Israeli jail after five months
“My main thing was never to become a celebrity, it was to get him in jail and keep people protected from people like him,” she says.
In 2019, Leviev was convicted of four charges of fraud – unrelated to Cecilie’s allegations – and sentenced to 15 months in prison, but he was released after serving only five months.
Leviev told BBC Newsbeat he strongly denied the accusations in The Tinder Swindler.
He’s still based in Israel – and Cecilie says she unexpectedly saw him in a beach club in Tel Aviv.
“I just looked at him and he looked at me – I just gave him a little wave and then that’s it,” she says.
“I’m not scared of him. Unfortunately, a lot of people are, but he can’t hurt me anymore.
“It’s very disheartening seeing him out and about.”
Leviev claims he reported Cecilie’s Tel Aviv visit to Israeli police and accused her of harassing him.
He was sentenced in Finland in 2015 for defrauding three women.
‘Red flags’
Cecilie says she still gets DMs from a range of people, young and old, sharing their stories of romance fraud.
But she does have advice to share if you suspect you’re being scammed.
“If you’re thinking or wondering, reach out to either family, friends, tell them about what you’re experiencing,” she says.
She advises contacting the bank as “they’re not your enemy”.
“The thing is that with fraud, you don’t realise red flags when they’re happening,” she says,
“And that’s why it’s dangerous. And when you realise you’ve been defrauded: go to the police, go to your bank.”
Celebs Go Dating airs on E4 from 28 November.
