Filipinos love it when international celebrities visit our shores, so many were all-too-ready to believe last week’s news that Cameron Diaz was spotted in a restaurant in tourist destination El Nido, Palawan.
Sadly, it turns out this was simply a case of mistaken identity — we’re giving the restaurateur the benefit of the doubt here — and that the American actress wasn’t actually the woman in the photos that spread online.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Happy Ongpauco Tiu said the tourist in the photo claimed to be Diaz when she was dining at her restaurant Backyard BBQ.
“I can’t believe our post last week about Cameron (??!!) eating at my restaurant went viral,” Tiu wrote on her caption.
“She claimed that she’s the real ‘Cameron’ … others affirmed that it is really her and some said she’s fake and just a look-a-like. Whoever she may be, I’m just glad that she’s enjoying the Philippines and loving my BBQ.”
Tiu was correcting her earlier post from Tuesday where she shared photos of her restaurant’s staff with a woman who looked a lot like Diaz.
Based on her caption, they also initially thought that another customer was American actor Bradley Cooper. The male tourist only had a passing resemblance to the A Star Is Born lead, which is probably why news of him visiting Palawan did not gain steam.
The false Diaz spotting, however, gained plenty of steam, getting picked up by major news outlets including The Philippine Star and ABS-CBN News, which has since taken down its story about it.
Some netizens quickly pointed out in Tiu’s comments that the woman in the photo was not Diaz.
“I don’t think it’s Cameron and Bradley Cooper; doesn’t look like them at all. If she says she’s Cameron you believe right away? haha,” @jinjinkimuy said.
@dearabby888 said it was “kinda obvious” it wasn’t them.
While @eirlaseg said: “That’s not really Cameron! They just have a resemblance. Maybe when they were asked if it’s them, they just said yes haha.”
Have you ever been fooled this bad by a celebrity lookalike? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @CoconutsManila.
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