Is This Joe? Are these two news stories the work of comedian Joe Lycett by chance?

News outlets beware - and we include ourselves in that statement: Joe Lycett is up to no good once again, for the betterment of society of course. 

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter,) the comedian announced that he had intentionally seeded some made-up stories to see if they would be published in the mainstream media. “Hello, I’ve got a game for you to play. The world’s been turned upside by fake news and I hate it. Unless I’m the one who’s faking it.”

“For the last month, me and my team have been planting stupid, silly fake news stories about things that never actually happened in the hope that it would take up space in that more hateful or polarizing fake news might otherwise had used.”

“Multiple very silly stories have made national news,” he continued, before reeling off a list of media outlets that have run his “stories.” 

“So here’s the game: can you guess which stories were my work. If you think you know what the stories were, get in touch with the hashtag #isthisjoe and I’ll tell you if you’re right in the first episode of the new series of Late Night Lycett, Friday April 12th at 10pm on failing Channel 4.”

The fake news treasure hunt has already elicited some suggestions throughout Lycett’s comments thread on X, with some of the more popular choices similar to some of our choices here at NationalWorld.

So what do we think was the work of Joe Lycett - and have we been tricked ourselves?

Is this Joe Lycett’s work?

Rescued hedgehog was revealed to be a bobble from a hat

This is currently the most popular choice underneath Joe Lycett’s post on X; earlier this week, several media outlets reported on the story that an elderly woman had saved what she thought was a baby hedgehog, even going as far as to feed it cat food - so the image with the story indicated anyway.

However, it turns out that it wasn’t a hedgehog at all but rather a bobble that had fallen off a woollen hat. The story itself seems rooted in Joe Lycett-style humour - the use of the word “pooing” in that cheeky tone he has and the ridiculous yet not ill-natured story that has just the right amount of ridiculousness that it’s hard to determine whether it was true or not. Either way, it’s a warm-hearted story that made the rounds earlier this week.

Steps member H to receive bronze statue

One within the NationalWorld newsroom we saw but had some trepidation about was the news that H from Steps was set to get an 8ft statue in Cowbridge, Wales, near where he grew up. 

Known to his family as Ian Watkins, the Steps member even went on social media to share the news, exclaiming he was “absolutely bowled over" and "super proud" of the news. However, after Sky News approached Cowbridge Council regarding the matter, a spokesperson stated that no planning application had been submitted.

Then there is the matter of the group who have proposed to erect the status, Cultural Cowbridge, who through a look on Google do not have a website and the quote given by one of its members seems heavily tongue in cheek.

“We can think of nobody more deserving of this fantastic initiative than Ian ‘H’ Watkins, and look forward to installing the statue pride of place in the centre of Cowbridge. When we discreetly began to seek private investment to realise this dream, we were overwhelmed at the response – 5, 6, 7, even 8 people immediately came forward with very generous donations.” 

That was a quote from Bethan Davies of the group, who if indeed is the same Bethan Davies on IMDB who worked on “Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back,” then that’s a big giveaway.

Their statement also just so happens to contain the lyrics to Steps’ hit single “5,6,7,8.” But if I am wrong and Cultural Cowbridge is indeed an organisation, feel free to contact me for the website CulturalCowbridge.co.uk and I’d happily hand it back. Preferably in 60 days so I can get a refund...