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In a photo provided by ESPN, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o pauses during an interview with ESPN on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Bradenton, Fla. ESPN says Te'o maintains he was never involved in creating the dead girlfriend hoax. He said in the off-camera interview: "When they hear the facts they'll know. They'll know there is no way I could be a part of this." MANDATORY CREDIT
NEW YORK—Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o tells ESPN that the person who created the fake online girlfriend has apologized to him for the hoax.

In an off-camera interview with ESPN, Te'o said Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old who lives in California, contacted him two days ago and confessed to the prank. Deadspin.com first exposed the hoax on Wednesday and indicated Tuiasosopo as involved in it.

Te'o said he first met Tuiasosopo in person after the Southern California game in November,

Te'o insisted he was never involved in creating the dead girlfriend hoax, but that he lied to his father about meeting the woman called Lennay Kekua face-to-face.