What to know about Natalia Grace’s boyfriend Neil, how they met

• Natalia Grace Mans talks about her boyfriend Neil in “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter.”
• Natalia and Neil met online and he helped her leave her home with the Mans family.
• Neil is from the UK and his identity is hidden in the documentaries.

“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter” tells how Natalia Grace Mans ultimately left the Mans family to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, a dwarf couple who previously tried to adopt her when she was a child .

She does this with the help of her boyfriend Neil, who lives in the UK and is not shown on screen or fully identified in “The Final Chapter”. In the docu-series, Nicole DePaul tells that Neil contacted her via social media and told her that Natalia needed help leaving the Mans family, who adopted her in 2023. As a result, Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie traveled to Nashville, where the Mans had moved. , to pick her up and bring her to their home in New York.

Natalia’s saga first became public in 2019 when it was reported that her first set of adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett, had moved to Canada, leaving Natalia alone in an apartment after believing the Ukrainian orphan was really a grown woman posing as a child. They alleged that Natalia was disturbed and had threatened their family, which Natalia has repeatedly denied.

Neil is a relatively new addition to the storyline that has played out on the Investigation Discovery docs since the first of its three seasons premiered in 2023. He is an off-screen presence in “The Final Chapter,” which premiered Monday, but Natalia, Nicole, and Natalia’s adoptive parents, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, all talk about him. Here’s everything we know about Neil.

Neil and Natalia met on social media and their relationship led to conflict with her adoptive parents

Neil and Natalia first connected through social media while she was living with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, she recalls in “The Final Chapter.”

“At first it was just like a little message, and then I grew feelings,” says Natalia in the series. “He claimed he got feelings and I just opened my heart. It felt really good.”

In December 2023, Antwon and Cynthia called the producers to say they were “done” with Natalia and that she wanted to live alone. The producers traveled to Tennessee, but when they arrived Antwon and Cynthia told them they had “come to an agreement” with Natalia and she had decided to stay home.

During an interview with producers at the time, Antwon and Cynthia said that Natalia had “trashed” them in messages and that Neil had portrayed them as an “enemy” who sought to “control” her.

“I think it’s definitely important to put parameters in place with the Internet so these things won’t happen again,” Antwon said during the interview. “Look, we have to cut off the Internet. We can’t allow this to happen. It just needs to be cut.”

Natalia said during the interview that she thought she was in love with Neil “but it wasn’t true” and she “wasn’t thinking clearly”. But eventually she decided to leave her adoptive family to live with the DePauls in New York.

Antwon and Cynthia Mans did not immediately respond to BI’s requests for comment sent to their personal Facebook profiles, their family Facebook page and an email listed on the Facebook page.

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Neil contacted Nicole so she could help Natalia leave Mans

Neil reached out to Nicole DePaul via social media to request that she help Natalia leave the Mans family. “The Final Chapter” producer Eric Evangelista says in a confessional that Neil also contacted producers to say she had to leave.

“It was like out of the blue,” Nicole said. “At first I didn’t even believe him. I didn’t even know if he was legit or if I should trust him.”

Natalia was still able to keep in touch with Neil, who in turn relayed information to Nicole. Eventually he put Natalia and Nicole in touch and they coordinated a pickup.

After Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie picked Natalia up in Tennessee, Natalia was able to talk to Neil on the phone.

“I’m so, so thankful you found me. I love you so much,” Natalia told Neil.

Neil and Natalia finally met in person while she was living at DePaul’s

Natalia continued her long-distance relationship with Neil while living with Nicole and Vince DePaul. Natalia said People she was in love and that she and Neil had met in person.

Now Natalia tells the publication that she hopes to have her own family one day.

“I am a girl who loves children and wants to get married and have children,” she said. “But one of my biggest things is not making promises I can’t keep. I’ve had too many promises broken. I’m just ready to move on.”

“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter” premieres on Investigation Discovery and Max on January 6.