‘I’m very much alive’ confirms Fair City star after false death reports

The veteran actor, who played Bela Doyle on the soap, reached out to the radio programme after a Fair City fan page posted that he had died and even shared a fake image of his funeral Jim Bartley (Bella) cast of RTE’s Fair City(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.)

Former Fair City star Jim Bartley rang RTE Liveline on Wednesday to confirm he is still alive after false reports were posted on social media saying he had died.

The veteran actor, who played Bela Doyle on the soap, reached out to the radio programme after a Fair City fan page posted that he had died and even shared a fake image of his funeral. Mr Bartley said the saga resulted in family members ringing his wife to pass on their condolences.

Mr Bartley told host Kieran Cuddihy: “I’m very much alive! We got a phone call this morning and my wife Helen answered the phone, it was a cousin of hers. He was ringing up to say he was sorry for her loss.

“Helen said ‘what loss’? He said ‘Jim passing away’. She said ‘no he’s not, he’s right here’. That was the start of it this morning.”

The issue started online when a Fair City fan Facebook group falsely posted on Tuesday that Mr Bartley had died. The post, as well as an edited image depicting his funeral, both remain online at the time of writing.

Mr Bartley said: “So I rang Liveline and I said the best way I can get out an announcement that I’m still alive is through Liveline because you have a listenership across the world.

“It’s a shock to people who know me for years. When I go back up to my local I’ll have to announce that I’m still alive so they can see me. Apart from that, it’s a terrible sort of thing. You can laugh at it but the serious side of it is really very hard on family.”

He added: “I just want to say one thing. To all those people that are shocked, I’m really sorry that they had that sort of news placed on them. It’s not funny. I tried to get a laugh out of it myself but when you realise the serious effect that it has on people, it’s not funny.”

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