British comedian Joe Lycett has revealed that, in the last month, he has planted four fake stories in the British media.

The Guardian newspaper reports that, on his Friday evening TV show, Late Night Lycett, the presenter – who has previously created fake walk-outs on chat shows, and doorstepped public figures – revealed four stories that he told the audience he invented, but were picked up and covered by UK newspapers and TV.

The four stories he said he fabricated were:

Lycett told the audience the stories had been shared multiple times in the UK national news, including newspapers The Daily Mail, The Sun and The Independent, and on news stations including the BBC and ITV.

Lycett is no stranger to pranks. In 2020 he changed his name by deed poll to Hugo Boss, in protest at the fashion brand trying to protect its name from smaller companies with ‘boss’ in their names.

Last year, he shredded what appeared to be £10,000 in a wood-chipper in protest at David Beckham’s ambassadorial role at the football World Cup in Qatar. Lycett later revealed the money to be fake.