Have you ever been caught repeating a lie? You rarely want to make an even bigger deal out of it. Manti, well after everyone knows he knew his girlfriend was fake, he continued elaborating on it. Embarrassed, or caught, ok, let me show you how not to lie since Manti and his apologists don't know.
Reporter: Can you tell me about your girlfriend?
Manti: You mean the one I have now?
Reporter: No, the dead one.
Manti: That is a very sad time in my life and I would like to put it behind me.
Reporter: You don't want to talk about it?
Manti: It's not something I feel comfortable talking about any more. It is very personal.
Viola! This is what a non pathetic low life piece of crap could have done, if he was still trying to save face. The idea that he just had to keep lying is utter ridiculousness. Manti kept lying because he wanted the attention and the accolades and while there might have been a hoax somewhere along the line, Manti clearly hijacked it for publicity.