Most Haunted - Controversy

Controversy

On several occasions the former Spiritualist medium Derek Acorah was supposedly possessed by an entity, sometimes evil or sometimes "lost and confused". Two such cases exposed Acorah. Before the filming, Acorah had been fed misinformation twice about the non-existent ghosts of Kreed Kafer and Rik Eedles by the show parapsychologist Dr. Ciarán O' Keeffe (under instruction from Karl Beattie, according to the now-defunct Bad Psychics website). During the investigations, later broadcast, Acorah presented the information as fact and even behaved as though being possessed by the fictional ghosts. O'Keeffe later revealed in the Daily Mirror that Kreed Kafer and Rik Eedles were anagrams of 'Derek Faker' and 'Derek Lies'. Even though O' Keeffe exposed Acorah, the paper also claimed that O'Keeffe had exposed the rest of the Most Haunted team. O'Keeffe later reported that he had been grossly misquoted and misrepresented in the article, and produced a response outlining his version of the show based on his observations and findings, saying he had exposed Derek Acorah and not the entirety of Most Haunted. The show's presenter and executive producer, Yvette Fielding said in an interview that she believes it was a fake possession.

Although not mentioned by O'Keeffe, the Mirror article also brought into question unedited footage which appeared to show Fielding and Karl Beattie faking 'paranormal' occurrences such as ghostly bumps and knocks. Fielding denied the claims.

Further controversy centred on Derek Acorah again in the West Country, this time in Devon. On the first night filming "Terror in Torbay", Acorah mentioned a woman incarcerated by her jealous sister in the cellar of Lupton House, even coming up with the names Margaret and Eleanor. In this case, the facts were right, but the location was wrong. This is the well-known legend of Berry Pomeroy Castle which was to be the last night's location. On the final night, at Berry Pomeroy, Fielding reminded Acorah that he had mentioned the incarcerated sister two nights prior. Acorah glossed over his mistake and changed the subject.

There have been many viewer complaints about the show to the Television Regulator in the UK, Ofcom. Ofcom described the show as one "where techniques are used which mean the audience is not necessarily in full possession of the facts". Ofcom ruled that this was not fraud because Most Haunted is an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and should not be taken seriously.