Truth about viral photo of sex act caught on secret camera revealed

An explicit image, and the subsequent tale of how it was obtained, has gone viral – but there’s a problem with the “jaw-dropping” story.

An explicit photo taken by a secret camera in a student’s bedroom has gone viral – but the outrageous story behind its origin has everyone in a twist.

The image shows three people engaged in a lewd sex act, but while that sight is enough to make most of us blush, the raunchy ménage à trois isn’t what has people talking.

Instead, the bizarre way the photo was obtained and was then subsequently circulated, is what has everyone gripped.

Numerous videos on TikTok, as well as supporting posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, have claimed the snap was taken by a suspicious university student who set up a secret camera in her bedroom after noticing things were going amiss.

The most recent video, shared by theNewlyWeds Podcaston Monday, explained that when the student accused her flatmates of messing with her stuff, they denied it, so she installed a “motion sensor security camera hidden in her room”.

A British podcast has detailed how a student busted three homeless people using her bedroom for sex while she was out. Picture: TikTok/NewlyWeds Podcast

The ‘jaw-dropping’ tale is almost hard to believe, but there’s photo evidence that supports it. Picture: TikTok/NewlyWeds Podcast

“A few weeks later, she gets a notification while sat in the office at work that motions have been detected,” Jamie Laing, who co-hosts the show with his wife Sophie Haboo, explains in the clip.

“She thinks, ‘amazing, I’ve caught them’ assuming it was one of her flatmates in her room.

“Sat in the office surrounded by colleagues she opens the app to discover it’s three homeless people having sex.”

The wild story, supported by an X-rated image, has understandably garnered huge attention in the 24 hours since it was shared, clocking up almost 1 million views and more than 60,000 “likes”.

The problem is, it’s not the first time it has gone viral.

In fact, there are multiple variations of the sordid discovery dating as far back as November 2018, all with slightly different details, leading to confusion over its authenticity.

A TikTok video shared by DazedMuzic earlier this year with almost 200,00 views ran an audio note shared on Snapchat, detailing a student from Bristol who couldn’t figure out why there was a funny smell in her bedroom when she returned home “every single night”.

While another version recounts a young girl moving to London from her home in northern England, only to relocate back after the “horror” find on the CCTV camera.

Variations of the tale behind the explicit image have been doing the rounds since 2018. Picture: Twitter/X

At its core, each version of events contained the same story, and were accompanied by the “exact same picture”, The Tab reported in February.

However, the British publication claimed it had “debunked” the tale, stating “there’s no proof”.

Another UK outlet backed this up, reporting social media users had also debunked the yarn, claiming the photo is “in fact from a different story”.

“Yeah that picture has been doing the rounds for years,” the Bristol Post stated.

Another backed him up agreeing that the picture is from a story about a cleaner caught sleeping with people on the job.

“I heard about this! Apparently the landlord or someone in the building was renting out the rooms during the day to people to use for a few hours,” one suggested.

Many have claimed they know it’s ‘real’, though a several UK publications have reported the story is a ‘lie’. Picture: TikTok/DazedMuzic

It hasn’t stopped others from supporting the authenticity of the tale, with the comments section on multiple videos insisting “it’s real”.

“THAT'S MY FRIEND’S BEST MATE IT HAPPENED TO,” one wrote on TikTok.

“My old co-worker told me this exact story and showed me the pic,” another claimed.

As one said: “I’ve seen the footage, it circulated WhatsApp with the story. No words.”

Others were disturbed by the dramatic “turn”, stating their “jaw dropped” upon hearing the ending.

“Nothing could have prepared me for that,” one said.

“MY JAW DROPPED,” another declared.

As one concluded: “It’s so obscure it has to be true.”

The report by The Tab eventually landed on the same spot, determining that while the variations are false, “somewhere down the line this story is actually true – but it took on urban legend form”.