Woody Cook, the 25-year-old son of television presenter Zoe Ball and musician Fatboy Slim, has reported a stalker to the police after an individual allegedly impersonated him online. Cook, known for his appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox, claimed the person had been 'catfishing' strangers by pretending to be him and discussing his sex life.
In an Instagram story, Cook described the behaviour as 'creepy, immoral and illegal', and said the individual had targeted him and others more than 20 times. He shared a screenshot of a message from a fake account, which read: 'Hey man, hope I'm ok to hyu on here. Just been looking at your prints again, super talented! Might have some artwork I'd like done for my festivals this year. Would you be interested? Woody x.' Cook added: 'This is not me! Someone is pretending to be me. Please don't fall for it! Super weird. It's a stalker.'
A spokesperson for Cook told the Daily Mail: 'We have been made aware that an individual has been contacting people online and claiming to be Woody. We have reported this to the police, and an investigation is underway. As such, we are unable to provide any further comment.'
Under current UK law, catfishing is not a specific criminal offence, but perpetrators can be prosecuted under fraud laws if they obtain money, or under harassment and data protection laws. Campaigners have been pushing for catfishing to be made a specific crime, with a petition launched in March calling for the law to recognise the harm caused by online impersonation.
Woody is the son of Zoe Ball and Norman Cook, who split in 2016 after 18 years of marriage but lived next door to each other while co-parenting Woody and his sister Nelly. Last year, Woody described his family as a 'half-estranged family unit' and clarified that his parents are not back together.
