FACT CHECK (August 2025):
The viral declare circulating throughout social media that “50% of ladies have a backup companion” will not be based mostly 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 examine’s methodology or dataset. The one proof comes from a collection of sensational articles in shops resembling CBS Information, the Every 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 fact:
- No peer-reviewed examine 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 “examine” urged that half of ladies saved a “Plan B”—a backup man ready in case their present relationship failed. Married ladies, the survey claimed, had been much more more likely to have a fallback companion than those that had been relationship.
The protection learn like tabloid scandal disguised as science. CBS reported that backups had been often “previous buddies” identified for about seven years, generally exes or coworkers. The Every day Mail went additional, claiming 12% of ladies felt extra strongly about their backup than about their present companion, and that just about 70% had been nonetheless in touch 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 recent information. 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—right now’s viral posts gasoline gendered mistrust and backlash.
Why It Issues
At its core, the “backup companion” narrative will not be innocent gossip. It perpetuates dangerous stereotypes: that girls are inherently duplicitous, emotionally untrue, or continuously looking for higher choices. In the meantime, males are framed as unsuspecting victims. The scandal isn’t shaky information—it’s the best way misinformation, as soon as planted, is weaponized to pit genders in opposition to one another.
What we’re witnessing in 2025 will not be revelation however repetition: a recycling of outdated, unverified sensationalism. The unique ballot was questionable; right now’s viral posts are worse, stripping away even the flimsy particulars and presenting hypothesis as reality.
The Backside Line
There is no such thing as a 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 world scandal by repetition and clickbait.
The true story isn’t that girls are secretly sustaining backup lovers. The true story is how shortly misinformation ages into “reality” when left unchallenged.
Credit score/Hyperlink: Egoitz Bengoetxea Iguaran/disloyal-girl-looking-to-another-boy.jpg)
