Canadian woodworker and pub owner Wes Stobbe would like the world to know he is not Olivia Newton-John's missing former boyfriend, Patrick McDermott.
Stobbe's wife Bridget Shaw would also like the world to know she is not McDermott's "mystery woman" or "German lover".
"I am not Patrick McDermott," Stobbe, 63, laughed in an interview with AAP on Wednesday from his home in Manitoba, Canada.
"Do I look German?" Shaw added.
The couple found themselves in the bizarre position in November of seeing their faces on the covers and in the pages of tabloids stretching from New Idea in Australia to The National Enquirer in the US, and in countless other newspapers, magazines and gossip websites across the globe.
Stobbe and Shaw are regular visitors to the Mexican seaside paradise of Sayulita and in October were sitting at a picnic table watching surfers on the nearby break and other beachgoers.
It's a busy area where it is not uncommon for tourists to have cameras and someone, without the Stobbes' knowledge, took photos of them.
Stobbe has long hair similar to McDermott's and, with the photo quality fuzzy, his image was touted to be the missing man.
To their surprise, weeks later the blurry photos began appearing in the tabloids touting "world exclusive" photos of McDermott, Newton-John's former boyfriend who went missing from a fishing boat off Los Angeles in 2005.
The US Coast Guard concluded McDermott likely drowned at sea while on the fishing expedition.
Conspiracy theories however have McDermott faking his death and slipping south into Mexico to avoid debts and child support payments from a previous marriage.
New Idea promoted its story with the headlines: "Special Investigation. Olivia's Missing Ex-Lover Found. Yes He's Alive. World Exclusive Picture Proof".
Stobbe first realised he was being portrayed as McDermott when a friend emailed him one of the articles.
Stobbe felt for Newton-John and McDermott's other loved ones and attempted to contact Newton-John by sending her an email through a fan website to let her know the stories were false.
"I don't like to play around with the emotions of people," he said.
The couple would like the publications to correct their stories.
"In the end, for the family's sake they need to know it is not Patrick McDermott," Shaw said.
