FACT CHECK (August 2025):
The viral declare circulating throughout social media that “50% of ladies have a backup companion” isn’t primarily based on any new analysis. In actuality, the story traces again to 2014, when British polling firm OnePoll allegedly performed a survey of 1,000 ladies within the UK. Eleven years later, there’s nonetheless no document of the research’s methodology or dataset. The one proof comes from a collection of sensational articles in shops similar to CBS Information, the Day by 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 ladies within the UK.
- Extrapolating these outcomes to assert “half of all ladies” 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 stored a “Plan B”—a backup man ready in case their present relationship failed. Married ladies, the survey claimed, have been much more more likely to have a fallback companion than those that have been relationship.
The protection learn like tabloid scandal disguised as science. CBS reported that backups have been normally “previous buddies” recognized for about seven years, generally exes or coworkers. The Day by day Mail went additional, claiming 12% of ladies felt extra strongly about their backup than about their present companion, and that almost 70% have been nonetheless involved with him. Philadelphia Journal added a snarky twist, marveling at the concept some ladies believed their Plan B would “drop the whole lot” 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 fact, 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—right this moment’s viral posts gasoline gendered mistrust and backlash.
Why It Issues
At its core, the “backup companion” narrative isn’t innocent gossip. It perpetuates dangerous stereotypes: that ladies 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 best way 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; right this moment’s viral posts are worse, stripping away even the flimsy particulars and presenting hypothesis as truth.
The Backside Line
There isn’t any credible scientific proof proving that half of ladies maintain a “backup man.” What exists is an eleven-year-old, unverified ballot of 1,000 UK ladies—magnified into a worldwide scandal by repetition and clickbait.
The true story isn’t that ladies are secretly sustaining backup lovers. The true story is how shortly misinformation ages into “truth” when left unchallenged.
Credit score/Hyperlink: Egoitz Bengoetxea Iguaran/disloyal-girl-looking-to-another-boy.jpg)
