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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Entertainment
Sophie Buchan

Outlander's Caitríona Balfe reveals 'crazy fan' conspiracies have 'tainted' show

The life of a celebrity is one that is very privileged but with it comes many downsides - especially were privacy is concerned.

It wasn't a well-known fact until August 18 2021 that Caitríona Balfe, who plays Claire Fraser on Outlander, was pregnant with her first child, however this is the way she wanted to keep it - and quite rightly so.

Throughout filming, the new mum revealed it was a particular challenge as she had to hide her pregnancy during production whilst also making sure nobody - outside of the crew and her inner circle - knew she was expecting.

Sam Heughan, the actor who plays Jamie Fraser and husband to Claire spoke about her ability to film whilst expecting and said: "It’s incredible. I would say, just to be shooting through winter during covid and also being pregnant...I think Caitriona did an incredible, incredible job."

Speaking on ET Canada, the hosts said that Balfe had to keep her pregnancy a secret until after their birth due to Outlander fans creating conspiracy theories - one of which involved her dating Heughan with some fans claiming the bed sheets she posted in a picture looked like the ones also owned by Heughan - and thus he is the father.

She later spoke to Vanity Fair about what had been happening over the last few years and said: "When you have a kid, you become really protective.

"I don’t want those [crazy fans]- because that’s what they are - I just don’t want them talking about him. It's sad, because you meet the loveliest people who are fans of the show and they’re super supportive and they do the nicest things - and then you have that little thing, which just taints it."

The hosts went then on to reveal that someone phoned up the church Balfe got married in to check whether or not she was telling the truth as they didn't believe her.

Speaking about the crazy conspiracies the hosts said: "There's shipping two characters and wanting them to be that in real life and then there's actually taking it to real life.











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"On one hand it's a great compliment because the chemistry between these two actors on Outlander is so fantastic. So it's lovely but if there's conspiracy theories going around and people are taking it to the next level that's a little dangerous."

Replying to the hosts, fans gave their thoughts on the whole situation.

One said: "Shippers are extremely toxic. They don't care about the actors for real. They just care about their ship. I've always believed you shouldn't ship real people because fans always end up crossing the line. They don't police themselves because it'll ruin the fantasy that's only in their heads."

Another commented: "I would date Sam!! But I do think fans need to lighten up when actors say they aren't dating they need to leave and let it go."

A third added: "The new era of fans and their fandoms are extremely toxic, crazy and obsessed.".

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