There seems to be a little corroboration to support the Gay Man Mistress scenario. However, one wonders whether the man’s description of Chris Watts’ car and home didn’t simply come from watching the news or snooping on Facebook. Something similar happened with John Mark Karr in the JonBenet Ramsey case. His “inside knowledge” turned out to be not so inside at all – it turned out anyone who’d been paying a lot of attention to the media would have known what he knew. The same could be true here.

Here’s People’s latest tease on the whole idea:

Chris’ alleged ex-lover, whom HLN said had been sought out by their team, said that he and Chris were allegedly in an approximately 10-month relationship after meeting online last June.

They saw each other off and on through the spring, ending things in March or April, the man said.

His story has not yet been independently corroborated by news outlets, including PEOPLE, but his account of an alleged relationship with Chris does contain details about Chris’ life that are not readily available online and in public documents. Identifying information about Chris’ truck and his home matches PEOPLE’s reporting.

A source close the investigation tells PEOPLE that Chris has had relationships with both men and women outside of his marriage.

If this part is right, then Chris Watts shares the same trait with Scott Peterson. Peterson was cheating on Laci since even before they were married, and then throughout their marriage. Laci appeared either unaware of it, or pretended not to know if she did.

It’s hard to imagine Shanann would have pretended not to know, especially if the affair involved another man. Perhaps she found out, or perhaps she was murdered before she could find out. Perhaps part of who Chris Watts felt he needed to be involved not being married and not being a father.

According to the Daily Mail “the other man” and Watts met after chatting via dating app MeetMe just a short time before Shanann. Celeste and Bella were murdered.

‘He reached out to me and messaged me,’ the man alleged. ‘It was small talk. He told me his age. He had two daughters.

‘He told me he was looking for a relationship in the long run. I asked why his profile said straight. He said he was not out and not ready to be out as far as sexuality.’

‘We had many conversations,’ the man told Banfield. ‘I asked him to make sure he’s not bisexual cause he had two children. He told me he didn’t know. At that moment he was attracted to me as a male.’

The bombshell allegations even state that the man spent time with Watts’ family.

With the anonymous person speaking to Banfield, telling her Watts lied about his relationship status and reassured the man that he and Shanann ‘didn’t have sex anymore’.

‘Bella made a comment… She asked if she could sleep with him and mommy,’ he said. ‘That’s how I found out he was married. I asked why he lied to me. He told me he knew he wouldn’t have a chance with me if he told me he was married. He told me what I wanted to hear. He knew I had good morals.’

And then here is where it gets dodgy and in my view, less than credible:

According to the interviewee, Watts told him his spouse [Shanann] was ‘verbally and emotionally abusive,’ that ‘he didn’t love her’ and that ‘she didn’t love him’.

At this point it’s very early, it’s just hit the media. Trent Bolte is the man in question.

Bolte [whose twitter feed is protected] describes himself as Nurse, MUA, beauty guru, boy who loves makeup. I like dancing, jenga, cheddarwurst, and inspirational speaking. My passion-EVERYTHING.

He also appears to be an ex-stripper based on his bio hashtag.

Since Shanann worked in a children’s hospital, it’s possible she met Bolte through her work.

The Twitter profile is located in Casper, Wyoming, which makes the claim feel like a stretch. Casper is about 270 miles from Frederick, Colorado, or 4 hours drive.

A guy on Reddit was saying the caller interviewed by HLN was very hesitant in his answers, and had to be prodded repeatedly. He says his gut instinct is this is a con.

Another post on Reddit:

He posted on fb about the affair, stating that it’s a witchhunt to find watts mistress

@TVAshleigh this guy said on FB 2 days ago saying he met #chriswatts two times now it is a 10 month affair? You are the laughing stock of FB right now! — Kim (@ILoveLipGlosss) August 28, 2018

Is it a rumor or is there substance to it? Is it a guy just wanting attention? What does your gaydar say?

Chris Watts is definitely very well groomed and appeared in shape when interviewed.

Come on @HLNTV, do you actual believe this guy? #ChrisWatts — Mrs. Chloe Baker (@chloecbaker) August 28, 2018

Was Chris Watts cheating on his wife, Shanann, before allegedly killing her? Was he losing weight and looking muscular for another woman? https://t.co/GKPb6WhYMk — Crime & Justice (@CrimeJusticeHLN) August 23, 2018

In terms of True Crime Intertextuality, there’s the Shrien Dewani case. Dewani was engaged to a beautiful Indian bride and was murdered on her honeymoon. Although Dewani was implicated he was ultimately acquitted. It later transpired he was a closet bisexual. Read about that here.

I’m just watching HLN and apparently Chris Watts was having an affair with another man. #ChrisWatts — Mrs. Chloe Baker (@chloecbaker) August 28, 2018

Supposedly Chris Watts was bi-sexual . His male lover is on HLN right now giving details of their love affair . Chris Watts even took his children to meet his male lover #MindBlown #WTF #Secrets #ChrisWattsIsAChildMurderer — Stand For Justice (@Stand4Justice44) August 28, 2018

Josh Rosenberg is the (mistress). Both Josh & Chris Watts worked for Thrive.

Police found texts between Chris & Josh. Detectives spoke with Josh who retained an attorney. Shanann snapped when she found out Chris was leaving Shanann for Josh. Per Source. pic.twitter.com/MactFxDUmf — Tonya Bruce (@tonyabruce55) September 11, 2018

Further reading on this topic:

Chris Watts: Bisexual or Not?

Chris Watts: The Psychology of Bisexuality