Bradley Walsh declared dead: Fake news about UK’s richest presenter spreads

Bradley Walsh is a very popular TV presenter, but he is also an actor and had a career in football when he was younger but sadly suffered an injury forcing him to retire early. Walsh is best known for his ITV show The Chase where he is no stranger to fits of laughter, one of his most famous includes Fanny Chmelar, a German alpine skier.

Bradley Walsh, who has been named the UK’s richest presenter, was declared dead in the early hours of January 27, as a result, ‘Bradley Walsh dead’ has been trending on X - formerly known as Twitter. Naturally, this claim was quickly debunked but how did the fake news start in the first place?

Bradley Walsh had falsely been announced dead

The death hoax surrounding Bradley Walsh started with a TikTok video posted by bbcnewshq, a fake BBC News page, as per The Sun. The account shared a video with the line: TV presenter, actor and singer, Bradley Walsh, dies aged 63 - BBC News'.

The video was 17 seconds long with a photo of the TV presenter and a BBC-style graphic announcing that Walsh was dead. The video had no comments and was posted in the early hours of January 27.

Don’t worry, Bradley Walsh is not dead, it’s just another account that likes to post fake news. Indeed, as per The Sun, the same account announced last month that national treasure, Sir David Attenborough had died, which is also not true.

The BBC shut down the fake news

Shayan Sardarizadeh, a journalist at BBC Verify assured fans that Bradley Walsh was not dead and that the news was fake. He posted on X:

A fake BBC News video posted by a fake BBC News account on TikTok falsely reports the breaking news that Bradley Walsh has died.

The same account falsely reported the death of Sir David Attenborough last month. Both fabricated videos have been viewed over a million times

This kind of thing is a reminder for many to not always believe what you see on the internet, especially social media like TikTok and if you do see news that seems strange, to go do some research to see whether or not it is real or fake news.

Read more:

⋙ Bradley Walsh: The Chase presenter is preparing for a big career move

⋙ Celine Dion: Fake news about the singer in a wheelchair is making fans panic

⋙ Eastenders star cancels appearances as he is struggling with health since the death of his partner

Sources used:

The Sun: ‘CRUEL HOAX Why is ‘Bradley Walsh dead’ trending?’

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