Bestselling Author Shocks Fans By Revealing True Identity After 13 Years Of Double Life

Freida McFadden, best known for penning psychological thrillersThe Housemaid,The Intruder, and more, on Wednesday, April 8, revealed hertrue identityto the world.

While it was known that she is not only a best-selling author but also a practicing doctor, her real name had remainedconcealed, and that is exactly what she made public in herlatest interview.

“I’m at a point in my career where I’m tired of it being a secret,” McFadden said.

Reactions to the author’s reveal varied from shock to excitement, with one netizen commenting, “I had no idea Freida was not Freida,” while another said, “Now this is a d**n plot twist.”

Freida McFadden has shared her real name while explaining why she hid it for so long

Image credits:Getty/Dia Dipasupil

McFadden, who made her writing debut in 2013, introduced herself as Sara Cohen, a doctor who treats brain disorders, when speaking toUSA Todayyesterday.

“My whole goal was to keep it a secret until I was [ready to] step back from mydoctorjob, so it wouldn’t be like everyone I work with suddenly knew and it compromised my ability to do my job,” the author said.

Image credits:TODAY

Despite her best efforts to not to let her two lives intersect, McFadden’s colleagues figured out who she was before she went public.

“They were really nice about it, though,” she said, revealing that many of them were fans of her books.

Image credits:fmcfaddenauthor

McFadden, per her account, stopped practicing medicine full-time in 2023 and now only takes one or two shifts per month.

“I realized I was completelyoverwhelmedfrom trying to do both,” she noted.

As the author concealed her true identity, she appeared publicly in a wig and glasses.

Image credits:TODAY

She clarified in her interview that she needs glasses in her real life, but thewigwas merely because she had “no idea how to style” her hair.

“It’s so much more boring than anything that happens in my books,” McFadden said about her revelations.

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Image credits:Lionsgate Movies

By revealing her real identity, McFadden also sought to put to rest several theories about her, the most prominent being that she was not real and that “three men” collectively wrote her books.

“I’m a real person, and I have identity, and I don’t have to hide anything,” McFadden said.

The author shared that writing was never meant to replace her career as a doctor, while revealing that she will continue publishing under her pen name

Image credits:TODAY

“Some people go into writing hoping to quit theirday job, but I didn’t. I was just having fun,” McFadden explained.

“I kept clinging to being a doctor because, first, I worked very hard to get there, and I find it really rewarding. I love seeing patients and helping other people.”

Image credits:tfmakena

Image credits:fmcfaddenauthor

Further in her interview, McFadden confirmed she won’t be giving up her pen name.

“Even though I did not reveal my real name, I feel like I’ve shared the real me all along, and everything I’ve told them has been the truth.

“Even though the name will be a surprise, nothing else will. I’ve always been genuine with my readers.” McFadden reasoned.

McFadden’s big revelation came months after one of her books made it to the screen

McFadden’sThe Housemaidwas turned into a movie last year, with Paul Feig directing.

It starredSydney Sweeneyas Millie Calloway, a young woman with a troubled past who becomes the live-in maid for a wealthy couple, Nina and Andrew Winchester, played byAmanda SeyfriedandBrandon Sklenar.

Released worldwide on December 19, the offering grossed $399 million on a $35 million budget, becoming a massive blockbuster.

Image credits:Instagram/mycosybookishhome

The film’s success ensured the book’s sequel,The Housemaid’s Secret, would also be adapted into a film.

Confirmed cast for the effort includes Sweeney, Michele Morrone, and Kristen Dunst.

Feig is set to return to the director’s chair.

“Legend”: McFadden’s fans praised her for her honesty and hard work

byCosmopolite

in

April 10, 2026

Bestselling Author Shocks Fans By Revealing True Identity After 13 Years Of Double Life

Freida McFadden, best known for penning psychological thrillersThe Housemaid,The Intruder, and more, on Wednesday, April 8, revealed he...

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Frankie Muniz can't believe he – and Malcolm – are 40 in show's reboot

BURBANK, CA − It’s not just you.Frankie Munizalso can’t believe he’s 40.

"I ride a Peloton, and now it says 'Frankie Muniz, 40s.' I'm like, 'Whoa bro, my mom's 40,' " Muniz tells USA TODAY. "She's not; she's 70, but in my head, I think that."

The character he’s best known for playing, Malcolm, is similarly not immune to the sands of time. Twenty years after we left him on the hit Fox series "Malcolm in the Middle," the smart-alecky, exasperated teen from the aughts is still just as embarrassed by his zany family inthe show's new Hulu revival, "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair" (all four episodes streaming April 10).

Muniz points out that he is not far from Bryan Cranston's age when the now 70-year-old started playing Malcolm's dad, Hal, in 2000.

"It's pretty wild when you think that because I remember thinking he's so old, you know?" Muniz confesses. "I'm not that old!"

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The show's creator, Linwood Boomer, told USA TODAY that he wasn't able to reel Sullivan (seen here in 2007) back in despite his best efforts; the former actor is now working toward his master's degree at Harvard University. "Eric Sullivan hasn't been an actor for decades. I asked him to repeat [Dewey]. We still talk all the time. I love him, and he didn't want to be an actor anymore," Boomer says. "He didn't like [acting] 10 years ago, and he sure doesn't now. I had to respect that."

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'Malcolm in the Middle' cast then and now – 2000s show to reboot

The show's creator, Linwood Boomer, told USA TODAY that he wasn't able to reel Sullivan (seen here in 2007) back in despite his best efforts; the former actor is now working toward his master's degree at Harvard University. "Eric Sullivan hasn't been an actor for decades. I asked him to repeat [Dewey]. We still talk all the time. I love him, and he didn't want to be an actor anymore," Boomer says. "He didn't like [acting] 10 years ago, and he sure doesn't now. I had to respect that."

After memory loss claims, Frankie Muniz says 'Malcolm' reboot 'brought back so many memories'

Cranston is the only costar Muniz has kept close contact with over the decades, an accomplishment he solidly credits to the "Breaking Bad" actor. Muniz admits his New Year’s resolution every year is "better communication, but that never works."

Nearly the entire original cast, which includes Jane Kaczmarek as matriarch Lois, Christopher Masterson as eldest brother Francis and Justin Berfield as second child Reese, came back for the reboot.

And when the "Malcolm" familyreunited on the Canadian setlast year, it was "as if no time had passed." He adds, "You could have told me that it was a week after we wrapped in 2006."

Fans who have kept tabs on Muniz over the years might have some skepticism about the actor's recollections of the "Malcolm" days; much has made aboutthe actor allegedly suffering memory loss from brain injuries. He has since clarified that he's fuzzy on the details because he was working nonstop "in that time frame," booking roles in 2000's "My Dog Skip," 2002's "Big Fat Liar" and the "Agent Cody Banks" movies.

"I equate it to if I asked you about going to high school and I was like, 'What did you do in February of your sophomore year?' You'd be like, 'I don't know,' " Muniz explains. "But you'd remember highs, lows, stuff like that. And I have a lot of that, obviously, with the show."

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The "Life's Still Unfair" team, which includes original series creator Linwood Boomer, sat the cast down in the impeccable replication of Malcolm's family's living room and jogged their memories by showing clips from throughout the seven seasons and more than 150 episodes.

"I was surprised by how [many] of us were like, 'I don't remember that at all,'" Muniz says. Just being back in this room – where he and Berfield passed a football between doorways and a drunk Malcolm threw up into a turkey – "brought back so many memories of the seven years I spent in that house."

The memories are almost entirely from filming, as Muniz admits he hasn't watched the series in its entirety: "I watched Season 1 and just got so busy."

Frankie Muniz's son can be 'a mix' of all the 'Malcolm in the Middle' children

Muniz's son, Mauz, similarly has not seen "Malcolm in the Middle." That might be in part why the 5-year-old primarily considers his father's profession to be race car driver (Muniz drives in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series). But for "Life's Still Unfair," in which Mauz has a brief cameo, Muniz's son had the opportunity to see his dad doing a job that doesn't require so much protective gear.

Playing a parent onscreen for the first time, Muniz found some parallels between his character and his real life as a father of one. Just like the reboot's Malcolm, a single father who frets over daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten) and is intent on being the exact opposite of his parents Lois and Hal, Muniz is "constantly questioning [if I'm] doing it right."

"I want my son to just like me. We have a good relationship, but I want him to not be spoiled and I want him to listen," Muniz says. "He's pretty good, 90% of the time."

"Angel" Mauz is usually "perfect, really unbelievably smart, very articulate, [and has a] fun little personality," Muniz gushes. But that other 10%? Mauz can be a "mix of all the 'Malcolm' kids. Just crazy."

"Maybe he needs to go to military school like Francis," Muniz jokes.

Reality TV drama "The Hills," starring Whitney Port, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge and Lauren Conrad, first aired on MTV in May 2006. The show followed Conrad to Los Angeles after her graduation from "Laguna Beach."

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Reality TV drama "The Hills," starring Whitney Port, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge and Lauren Conrad, first aired on MTV in May 2006. The show followed Conrad to Los Angeles after her graduation from "Laguna Beach."

But he tries to not dwell on whether he's the perfect dad because "Malcolm and his family, sure, they struggled, but they really cared about each other."

"Malcolm turned out all right in the end, so the parenting, I guess, worked," Muniz says.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Frankie Muniz found Bryan Cranston 'so old' in 'Malcolm in the Middle'

byCosmopolite

in

April 10, 2026

Frankie Muniz can't believe he – and Malcolm – are 40 in show's reboot

BURBANK, CA − It’s not just you.Frankie Munizalso can’t believe he’s 40. "I ride a Peloton, and now it says 'Frankie Muni...

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Designer drug stronger than fentanyl sparks an 'alarming' overdose trend

A designer drug described as 10 times more potent thanfentanylis causing an uptick in U.S. overdoses, according to health officials in multiple states.

Known as cychlorphine, the synthetic opioid is relatively new, having first been identified overseas in 2024. A spate of overdose deaths in East Tennessee has been attributed to the drug, with the Knox County Regional Forensic Centersaying in a notice on Monday, April 6, that it has been linked to at least 41 deaths across 11 counties between July 2025 and February 2026.

"What’s especially troubling is that cychlorphine may have been circulating far longer than we know," Chris Thomas, chief administrative officer and director of the Knox County Regional Forensic Center, said in a statement. "And I’ve said this before – we don’t know if it’s contained to a limited supply or one bad batch, or if it’s representative of a longer-term shift in the drug supply. That’s what is really concerning."

"It has never been more dangerous to take street-level drugs than right now," he added.

Health officials in other states, includingFlorida,Kentucky,OklahomaandSouth Carolina, have also issued warnings amid the apparent proliferation of the drug, as toxicology data shows that roughly two dozen states have confirmed its presence locally.

The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) likewiseissued a nationwide alertin January, saying cychlorphine is behind an "alarming" uptick in deaths both nationwide and globally.

Here's what ot know about N-Propionitrile chlorphine, also known as cychlorphine.

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What is cychlorphine (N-Propionitrile Chlorphine)?

N-Propionitrile chlorphine, also known as cychlorphine, is a synthetic or chemically manufactured opioid that global health officials began tracking in mid-2024. Like fentanyl, another highly potent synthetic opioid, it is used recreationally on its own or mixed with other drugs like heroin.

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It was firstdocumented by CFSREas a designer drug, or a substance that is engineered to mimic the effects of an established drug (like morphine, for example) while technically skirting legal regulations and established drug tests. It is part of an emergent subclass of synthetic opioids often called “orphines" or "orphine analogues," which are often distributed in powder or tablet form. Early reports have traced the drug's origins to China, according to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center, from which it likely spread to Europe and beyond.

Like other synthetic opioids, which are aleading cause of overdose death in the U.S., its potency means it can rapidly overwhelm the respiratory system in even very small doses, quickly rendering a person unconscious or unable to breathe.

Experts are still learning about cychlorphine and its effects. Its novelty means it is harder to detect – most toxicology tests administered by hospitals, first responders and law enforcement are not equipped to catch it,according to the Addiction Center. Its strength means that the drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, may not be as effective and may require several doses to work.

The CFSRE said in its January public alert that the U.S., Canada, Europe and Oceania have seen an "alarming increase in deaths" linked to synthetic opioids; cychlorphine, specifically, has been detected in a notably increased number of fatal drug overdoses since mid-2025.

Early data from testing on samples showed the drug to be approximately 10 times more potent than fentanyl, said CFSRE, though how accurately this translates to real-world use is still unknown.

Where in the US has cychlorphine been found?

Health officials are still developing tools and techniques to track the prevalence of newer orphines and other synthetic drugs. In January, the CFSRE had confirmed the presence of cychlorphine in New York, California, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

Local and state governments inFlorida,Kentucky,OklahomaandSouth Carolinahave issued warnings alerting the public to the known presence of cychlorphine in the region.

The drug has likewise been detected in recent toxicology reports from Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio and West Virginia,according to Aegis Labs data.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:What is cychlorphine? Potent drug behind 'alarming' overdose deaths

byCosmopolite

in

April 10, 2026

Designer drug stronger than fentanyl sparks an 'alarming' overdose trend

A designer drug described as 10 times more potent thanfentanylis causing an uptick in U.S. overdoses, according to health officials in ...

Read More