Were seven participants on the reality show "Survivor: Castaway" in the Philippines rescued after five years on a deserted island? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian website that makes up entertaining stories about weird crimes, bizarre sex acts and other crazy news, but none of it is real.
The story originated from an article published by World News Daily Report on July 20, 2018 titled "Reality show contestants rescued after 5 years on a deserted island" (archived here) which opened:
Seven participants of a Philippino reality TV show were miraculously rescued by coastguards after being stranded a total of 64 months on a deserted island.
The three men and four women are all that remain of the 16 original contenders on the TV show Survivor: Castaway, which was meant to go on air in 2013.
8 men and 8 women from all over the Philippines were transported to the isolated and deserted Marooning Island for the shooting and were meant to remain there for a maximum of two months.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail so some of them might have actually believed it:
Reality show contestants rescued after 5 years on a deserted island
Seven participants of a Philippino reality TV show were miraculously rescued by coastguards after being stranded a total of 64 months on a deserted island. The three men and four women are all that remain of the 16 original contenders on the TV show Survivor: Castaway, which was meant to go on air
The image illustrating the story is actually from a 2015 ferry disaster in the Philippines that killed 36 people:
Major ferry disasters: 1987-2013
August 2013: The passenger ferry St. Thomas Aquinas and cargo vessel Sulpicio Express 7 collide off Talisay City in Cebu province, resulting in the sinking of the ferry. The death toll in the collision was 108. May 2009: The wooden-hulled MV Commander 6 cracks open and sinks just south of Manila, leaving 12 dead.
The website World News Daily Report is a well known satire website specialized in posting hoaxes and made up stories. The disclaimer on their website is pretty clear about that even though you have to scroll all the way down the page to find it:
World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website - even those based on real people - are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.
It is run by Janick Murray-Hall and Olivier Legault, who also run the satirical Journal de Mourréal, a satirical site spoofing the (real) Journal de Montéal. Very often their stories feature an image showing a random crazy mugshot found in a mugshot gallery on the internet or on a stock photo website superimposed over a background of flashing police lights or crime scene tape.
Articles from the site are frequently copied (sometimes even months or years later) by varous fake news websites that omit the satire disclaimer and present the information as real.
We wrote about worldnewsdailyreport.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Teen On 'Female Viagra' Did NOT Crash Into Building While Masturbating To Gear Shift
- Fake News: Florida Babysitter Did NOT Tie Crying One-month-old Baby To Ceiling Fan For 26 Hours
- Fake News: Colorado Man Did NOT Claim He Was Held 2 Weeks As A Sex Slave By A Grizzly Bear
- Fake News: Allergic Man NOT Rushed To Hospital; Girlfriend Did NOT Spread Peanut Butter On Vagina
- Fake News: MH370 Pilot Did NOT Mysteriously Resurface Almost 2 Years After His Flight Vanished Over China Sea
