Fact check: Photos show TikTok-famous couple, not Kenyan man and American millionaire

The claim: Photos show a Kenyan man who became a millionaire after his 73-year-old American bride died  

According to a tale on social media, a 34-year-old Kenyan man is now millions of dollars richer after his wealthy American bride died three days into their marriage. 

"73-year-old woman allegedly dies during honeymoon three days after wedding, leaving behind multi-million dollar business to Kenyan husband!" reads the text of a meme posted in a Facebook group catered to residents of Lake County, Illinois.

The Oct. 23 post accumulated more than 9,900 shares within one week. Dozens of other Facebook and Instagram posts have shared this story with a photo of a young man and a smiling, older woman.

But the people in the photo are not who the posts suggest they are.

The Facebook post shows a wedding photo of Cheryl McGregor and Quran McCain, an American couple with a large audience on TikTok. Both are alive, and there's no evidence the events described in the post occurred.

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USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who posted the claim for comment. 

Posts misuse photo of American couple

The claim traces back to a Sept. 14 post from a Kenyan Facebook page, the Agence France-Presse reported.

The Daily Statesman posted photos of McGregor and McCain with a story about the late American bride "Julia Donson Wachira" and Kenyan husband "Dr. John Wachira." Photos used in posts about the Wachira couple appear in several articles about McGregor and McCain.

On Sept. 5, the Rome, Georgia, couple posted a video of their wedding ceremony on McGregor's TikTok channel, which has more than 1.1 million followers. McCain has more than 380,000 followers on his own TikTok profile.

Since then, recent posts from the couple, including one published Oct. 26, indicate both are alive.

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USA TODAY could find no evidence to support the story about the Wachira couple.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that photos show a Kenyan man who became a millionaire after his 73-year-old American bride died. The photos actually show a Rome, Georgia, couple with a large following on TikTok. Both are alive.

Our fact-check sources:

• AFP Kenya, Oct. 27, Pictures of couple with large age gap unrelated to claim about rich woman's death
• Cheryl McGregor, Sept. 5, TikTok post
• Cheryl McGregor, Oct. 26, TikTok post
• Quran McCain, accessed Oct. 30, TikTok profile
• Queen Cheryl, accesed Oct. 30, TikTok profile
• Daily Mail, Aug. 12, Grandmother, 61, is ENGAGED to toyboy lover, 24, she's been dating for a year 
• The U.S. Sun, I’m a gran-of-17 and I’ve married my toyboy, he’s 37 years younger than me
• The Daily Statesman, Sept. 14, Facebook post

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