Ben Shephard branded ‘the man’ after losing temper grilling notorious Tinder Swindler

Ben Shephard has been praised for grilling the infamous Tinder Swindler on This Morning.

Simon Leviev, 35, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, is a con artist who was the subject of the popular Netflix documentary in 2022.

The investigative documentary detailed allegations from women who said he had posed as a wealthy diamond heir before persuading them to hand over money.

Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, Simon discussed his plans to ‘turn over a new leaf’ and launch a dating app called Safe Love.

However, Ben, who was joined by his co-host Cat Deeley, repeatedly challenged Simon over his past and whether he had any remorse for the women who featured in The Tinder Swindler documentary.

After Leviev described the story as ‘nice’, Ben interrupted him by saying: ‘Simon! Simon! Simon!

‘I think quantifying it as nice is really distasteful and of course it’s not a “nice” story.

‘There’s nothing nice about The Tinder Swindler and there’s nothing nice about what it is that these women went through and they have accused you of.’

He added: ”Nice’ is not a word that I think is suitable in this position.’

Leviev then discussed his new dating app and claimed he understood the ‘breaking points’ of existing platforms.

Ben asked: ‘So you’re admitting that you know how to get around previous dating apps that are out there?’

Leviev replied that he knew how to ‘lie’, ‘cheat’ and ‘manipulate’, adding that he had previously travelled using a false passport.

‘Obviously I’ve been convicted, obviously I’m not proud of it, but it makes me a set of skills that some other people don’t have,’ he said.

Responding, Ben hit back: ”I’m gonna be honest Simon… I’m really sorry, you say you’re not proud of it but it certainly sounds like you’re proud of it.’

‘It certainly sounds like you’re listing those things like accolades, which means you are perfectly positioned to now launch another business rather than saying because I have done all these things I want to turn over a new leaf.’

Ben continued: ‘There will be people watching this today who think it’s really distasteful that you’re launching a dating app. You’re notorious for being anything other than trustworthy.’

Reacting to the exchange online, social media user Karen said on X: ‘YES Ben Shephard you’re the man. You give it to the Tinder swindler. Fantastic job. And in a manner that you put in words perfectly.’

Simon, who allegedly scammed an estimated £7.6million from multiple women he met on the dating app, was arrested at Interpol’s request after arriving at Batumi Airport in September last year.

However, the Israeli national was released after just two months ‘without any conditions’ after Germany withdrew its extradition request.

Leviev was not convicted of the allegations in the Netflix documentary.

He has, however, been convicted of fraud, theft and forgery-related offences and has served prison sentences.