8 famous people whose lies came back to haunt them

[Vicki Evans]

Embellishing the truth, or to put it more plainly, telling a bit fat fib, can often come back to bite you in the backside.

And so with the news of all-American hero Ryan Lochte and his US swimming teammates getting caught in a lie about being held at gunpoint in Rio, it got us thinking of some other controversial examples of well-known sorts who learnt the benefits of telling the truth the hard way.

Steven Ireland: Using the dead grandmother excuse

Don't worry, his surname really is Ireland (we think). Never shy of controversy, the former Man City midfielder once claimed that his grandmother had died to get out of an international match. He was chartered a private jet out the Czech Republic.

There were claims that the dead grandmother excuse was to cover up that his girlfriend had a miscarriage but that begs the question of why use one valid excuse to cover up another acceptable excuse. 

Liar rating: 3/5

Brian Williams: Flying in to Baghdad

Last year, NBC’s smoothly toned news anchor was suspended and then fired due to his misrepresentation of a personal experience from the Iraq War back in 2003, when he'd claimed he came under rocket attack while on a chopper.

Speaking of his involvement with the special forces on the Letterman Show and, Williams even told of special gifts that the team gave him like a knife and a piece of a shot down helicopter. Chinny reckon.

Liar rating: 4/5

Andrea Leadsom: CV elaborating

Exaggerating a CV is nothing new, but being up for Prime Minister would make you triple check your facts - you know, just to make it airtight.

Andrea Leadsom made a misleading claim on her CV about an investment bank worker title which may have lost her the leadership campaign. She probably had 'proficient at Excel on there too', but then don't we all?

Liar rating: 5/5 (extra points as she could have been PM)

Steve Rannazzisi: Being inside the Twin Towers during 9/11

During his early career, the US actor best known from comedy series The League once claimed to have been inside New York's Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks, fleeing the South Tower as the planes hit.

However, while he was in Manhattan on the day of the tragedy, he was nowhere near the event. Eventually, as it always does, the truth was outed and he took to Twitter in September last year to ask for a grand apology for the fibs he made.

Liar rating: 4/5 

White Stripes: The white lies of the White Stripes

The singing duo of Jack and Meg White were thought to be brother and sister due to their same name and very similar unwashed appearance. The pair were actually husband and wife.

They did it because they wanted their music to be more important than their relationship - understandable but it was a simple lie that would have changed the whole dynamic of their music, relationship and make everyone else gag a bit.

Liar rating: 3.5/5

Brian Denny: Vietnam vet who never saw combat

Tough guy actor Brian Dennehy claimed to have served in the Vietnam War for a five-year tour. This was, it turned out, a total lie and the stories that he told of the horrors of the war, even his PTSD were just to gain sympathy.

He was in the US Marines during the time of the war but he never got anywhere near Vietnam and didn’t see active combat. The fact he played the small town sheriff who attempts to chastise Vietnam vet John Rambo in First Blood is a delicious irony.

Liar rating: 3/5

Anti Te’o: Girlfriend died of cancer

Another all-American sporting hero guilty of giving people misinformation: when footballer Manti Te’o was contesting the Heisman Trophy for Notre Dame back in 2012, he claimed his girlfriend had died of leukaemia. Except she didn't exist.

Though a hoax, we should point out that since this fact was revealed a year later, it appears that a close acquaintance had cat-fished, creating a fake profile for the girl and embarking on a six month web of deceit.

Liar rating: 4/5

Robin Thicke: The blurred lies over Blurred Lines

Robin Thicke claimed to have co-written the 2013 song Blurred Lines with Pharrell Williams. However, his tune changed dramatically when the song was put under trail for copyright infringements.

Thicke quickly changed his tune and retracted the claims that he was a co-writer. Possibly to avoid the law suit, which was eventually settled, but without that claim we may have never known.

Liar rating: 2.5/5

[Images: Rex, Shutterstock, Getty. The Washington Post]