Stranger than fiction? The writer who landed A-list scoops for local magazines

In spring 2023, subscribers to the British local lifestyle magazine Somerset Life were eagerly anticipating their April edition - a Gardens Special promising top tips for green-fingered readers and the best places to see seasonal bluebells.

- Alexandra Topping Mario Laghos

When the magazine landed on readers' doormats, a story bigger than the gardens of south-west England was on the cover. In what appeared to be a world exclusive interview, the Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp had confessed his love for the county. More than that, he had bought a secret hideaway in the area.

Never slow to pounce on a story about the controversial Pirates of the Caribbean star, national and international tabloids hungrily reproduced news of Depp's English bolt-hole. The story went viral.

The celebrity bible Hello! gushed over the star's idyllic 12-bedroom property, featuring "a walled garden and even its own dairy farm". The US weekly magazine People told readers that Depp was "enjoying the quiet life in England". The Independent lured readers into the story, promising that the star had "opened up" about his new introverted lifestyle.

The story was all the more intriguing for having been revealed in the pages of the regional monthly magazine. The six-page feature stated: "It is true that he also bought an estate of 850 acres near Kingston St Mary which includes what is known as Somerset Mansion."

There was only one problem: according to those close to Depp, he hadn't. In the days that followed, his publicists played a frantic game of whack-a-mole, trying to correct the story they say is inaccurate, but which spread like wildfire.