Maclean Burke has had to set the record straight after a pretty wild online rumour claimed he had died, and honestly, he’s handling it in the most laid-back way possible.
The Fair City star, best known for playing Damien Halpin, has been the target of these fake death reports more than once now. While it might sound ridiculous, the knock-on effect has actually been quite upsetting, especially for his family.
The hoax posts were made to look like real news articles, using familiar logos and layouts to trick people into believing they were legit. And unfortunately, it worked, particularly for older people who might not be as used to spotting this kind of thing online.
Chatting to Extra.ie, he said: ‘About two nights ago, I saw it. I didn’t think much of it but it kept going… then my mother was getting a lot of phone calls from her friends crying. It was mad. Because we forget that there is a certain cohort of people who just see the banner of the newspaper. It’s not them but to an older person who isn’t aware, they think that it is true.
‘To be honest, I have to look at the funny side. There is a dark side, I’m sure but for me the funny side was “I can’t believe people are saying such nice things”,’ he said laughing.
While Maclean can laugh about it now, it clearly wasn’t funny at the time, especially for his mum, Alice, who suddenly had friends and neighbours ringing her in tears, thinking the worst had happened.
Instead of letting it get to him, though, he’s decided to lean into the madness of it all. In fact, he’s turning the whole thing into a bit of a joke by planning his own ‘wake’ on the 3rd of April for his birthday.
‘I’ve decided for my birthday this year that I am going to have a wake.’
It’s a very on-brand way to deal with something so absurd, but there’s actually a more serious reason why so many people believed the rumours in the first place. Not that long ago, Maclean had a genuine health scare after a hectic run of pantomime shows in late December 2024. He ended up collapsing due to rhabdomyolysis, a serious condition resulting from the breakdown of damaged skeletal muscle, which understandably worried a lot of people at the time.
Because of that, when the fake reports started doing the rounds, some people didn’t question it, they just assumed the worst.
He said the reaction was huge, with messages pouring in from all over the world. Some even came from people he hadn’t spoken to in years.
‘There were so many people who contacted me. The first time it happened I got a message from a friend of mine that I was in school with 100 years ago… his kids knew me from the panto and the fact that I had a bit of a (health) scare two years ago, they pulled over, thought it was true and were all crying in the car.
Don't miss a Soaps scoop! Add us as a Preferred Source
As a loyal Metro Soaps reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories. We have all the latest soaps news, spoilers, videos, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.
Click the button below and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
‘I have to look at the plus side of it and remind myself to keep in touch with people, reach out to those older friends. It’s amazing how many people have come back into my circle. But it’s horrible in some ways.’
That pretty much sums it up, a strange mix of heartwarming and horrible at the same time. On one hand, it brought people back into his life. On the other, it caused genuine panic and upset.
Maclean also said he initially wondered if people had somehow mixed things up with his on-screen character. Damien Halpin hasn’t been front and centre in Fair City recently, which might have added to the confusion for some viewers.
‘I’m out at the moment (of Fair City). But it’s one of those things that I could turn up. Damo is still floating around.’
For now, he seems to be taking it all in his stride, not letting the rumours get the better of him and even finding a way to laugh about it. Still, it’s a pretty clear reminder of how quickly fake stories can spread online, and how real the impact can be for the people caught up in them.
At least in this case, there’s a happy ending: Maclean Burke is alive and well, and apparently planning one very unusual birthday celebration to prove it.