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A BBC presenter has joked he has 'lied to the nation' after mistakenly reading out fake news involving the Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock being lost in a maze.
A social media post was shared last week by the X account Francis Chipp, which has built a reputation for sharing fake stories, largely involving Newcastle United stars.
The prankster - whose account states 'everything I post is made up' - last week issued a fake report that Magpies midfielder Willock needed to be rescued from York Maze.
‘EXCLUSIVE: Newcastle United midfielder Joe Willock, 26, had to be rescued from York Maze after a distress call to emergency services was made at around 5pm on Tuesday. He had been lost in the UK's largest maze for approximately six hours,’ the account shared.
Thousands of fans responded to the humorous story, but a week on the tale made its way onto the BBC's airwaves.
Presenter Melvin Odoom raised the story with co-hosts Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges on the Rickie, Melvin and Charlie Show, as he opened a discussion about unique places people had been lost.
A BBC presenter was duped into reading out a fake news story involving Newcastle's Joe Willock
A story was shared by prankster Francis Chipp that Willock had been lost in York Maze last week
Presenter Melvin Odoom read out the story on the Rickie, Melvin and Charlie Show
‘Do you know Newcastle player Joe Willock? He plays in the midfield area,’ Odoom said.
‘He was rescued from a York maze recently after a distress call was made to emergency services at around 5pm. He was stuck in this maze for around six hours.
‘It's the UK's largest maze so he went in as a little trip and he got lost within it.’
Haywood-Williams responded to the story by adding: ‘Something similar has happened to me, I was lost and I couldn’t find my way out, it was a really big maze on a farm in Kent,’
‘If you don’t take it seriously you can be in there for a really long time.’
In reply, Hedges asked: ‘Is there no cameras in these mazes it?’, with her co-hosts insisting there are not in response.
Odoom was later informed during the show that he had been duped by the fake story.
‘Merv, I am sorry to let you know this, but we are being flooded messages from people who are saying you have had an absolute mare talking about football,' Hedges said.
‘There is apparently this account where this guy makes up fake news all the time and sees who chats about it. Sorry about that.’
Odoom responded 'So that never happened to Joe at all? To be fair it was not a factual site. I feel like I have lied to the nation.'
The BBC presenter is far from the first to have fallen for a fake story shared by the account
Sean Longstaff referenced one of the fake stories after scoring for Newcastle back in 2023
The presenter is far from the first to be duped by the account's fake stories about Newcastle players.
A post in August had claimed Newcastle had accidentally left defender Matt Targett in Seoul following the club’s pre-season tour.
Targett made light of the fake story on Instagram, sharing a photo of him in training with the message ‘Made it back in time for training.’
Another rumour had been created in 2023, which claimed Sean Longstaff had asked Newcastle manager Eddie Howe to take a month’s holiday to allow him to going travelling with his brother Matty.
Longstaff addressed the rumour after scoring in Newcastle’s next match, writing ‘No time for travelling when there’s 3 points at SJP to be had.’
He later added in a press conference: ‘I don’t really know what to say, I think it’s a bit scary that one person can write something that’s not true and the amount of people that think it is true is nuts.’
