Truth Examine: How a Bogus Ballot Grew to become ‘Proof’ That Half of Ladies Cheat
FACT CHECK (August 2025):
The viral declare circulating throughout social media that “50% of ladies have a backup associate” isn’t primarily based on any new analysis. In actuality, the story traces again to 2014, when British polling firm OnePoll allegedly carried out a survey of 1,000 girls within the UK. Eleven years later, there may be nonetheless no document of the research’s methodology or dataset. The one proof comes from a sequence of sensational articles in shops comparable to CBS Information, the Each day Mail UK, and Philadelphia Journal—all of which cite one another, not the unique analysis.
The declare in 2025:
Credit score/Hyperlink: femcoreofficial Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/p/DNV0Y32xQkX/?igsh=aTR1OXAwenBuaTI0
The truth:
- No peer-reviewed research exists.
- The ballot, if it occurred, was restricted to 1,000 girls within the UK.
- Extrapolating these outcomes to assert “half of all girls” is each false and defamatory.
- The story is being recycled in 2025 with none new findings, fueling controversy with out context.
The Origins of the Declare
In 2014, OnePoll’s so-called “research” advised that half of ladies saved a “Plan B”—a backup man ready in case their present relationship failed. Married girls, the survey claimed, had been much more more likely to have a fallback associate than those that had been courting.
The protection learn like tabloid scandal disguised as science. CBS reported that backups had been normally “previous pals” recognized for about seven years, typically exes or coworkers. The Each day Mail went additional, claiming 12% of ladies felt extra strongly about their backup than about their present associate, and that almost 70% had been nonetheless in touch with him. Philadelphia Journal added a snarky twist, marveling at the concept some girls believed their Plan B would “drop every part” if known as upon.
It was juicy, salacious—and statistically meaningless.
The 2025 Revival
Eleven years later, the identical narrative has resurfaced throughout Threads, X, Fb, Reddit, Instagram, and YouTube. The recycled declare now masquerades as new analysis, regardless of the absence of contemporary knowledge. Posts body the story as if it displays common reality, with some even suggesting “half of ladies are dishonest or planning to cheat.”
That is misinformation by omission. By leaving out the context—that the declare comes from an previous, unverified, and unreplicated ballot—at present’s viral posts gasoline gendered mistrust and backlash.
Why It Issues
At its core, the “backup associate” narrative isn’t innocent gossip. It perpetuates dangerous stereotypes: that girls are inherently duplicitous, emotionally untrue, or continually searching for higher choices. In the meantime, males are framed as unsuspecting victims. The scandal isn’t shaky knowledge—it’s the way in which misinformation, as soon as planted, is weaponized to pit genders towards one another.
What we’re witnessing in 2025 isn’t revelation however repetition: a recycling of outdated, unverified sensationalism. The unique ballot was questionable; at present’s viral posts are worse, stripping away even the flimsy particulars and presenting hypothesis as reality.
The Backside Line
There isn’t a credible scientific proof proving that half of ladies hold a “backup man.” What exists is an eleven-year-old, unverified ballot of 1,000 UK girls—magnified into a worldwide scandal by means of repetition and clickbait.
The actual story isn’t that girls are secretly sustaining backup lovers. The actual story is how shortly misinformation ages into “reality” when left unchallenged.
Credit score/Hyperlink: Egoitz Bengoetxea Iguaran/disloyal-girl-looking-to-another-boy.jpg)
