Freida McFadden Reveals Colleagues’ Reaction to Learning Real Identity

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Freida McFadden blew her colleagues’ minds after revealing her real identity.

The author of The Housemaid recently revealed she is actually Sara Cohen, a doctor specializing in brain disorders, but she says her former medical coworkers found out she’d become a bestselling author much sooner – and were very surprised!

In a recent interview with TopMob News, the 45-year-old revealed they kept their writing a secret from colleagues. However, word eventually got out – thanks to a post on Instagram.

Despite her hospital colleagues knowing her secret, McFadden—who transitioned away from full-time medical work in 2023—remained determined to keep her two jobs separate.

“When I’m at the hospital,” she explained, “I just want to be a doctor.”

Honestly, it’s not that she isn’t thankful for everyone who loves her work – she really is! It’s just… so many of her coworkers were already huge fans, practically obsessed like me, and they swore they’d take her secret to the grave. It meant the world to her, knowing she had that kind of support from people she trusted.

The author of Devil Wears Scrubs said she doesn’t mind when fans ask her to sign their books, and she appreciates their kindness. She mentioned that some hospital workers saw the movie and sent her a photo, which she thought was really thoughtful.

She explained that she prefers to concentrate on her work while at her job, and when she’s at home writing, she wants to dedicate herself fully to that.

McFadden originally chose to write novels under a pen name because she wanted to keep her writing and other professional life separate.

In an interview with USA Today on April 8th, she explained that she wanted to keep her plans a secret until she left her job as a doctor. She was worried that if her colleagues found out too soon, it would make it difficult for her to continue working effectively.

After leaving her job in healthcare, and after years of fans wondering about her past, McFadden announced she was ready to share her true identity.

The bestselling author explained she was ready to stop hiding her true identity. She’d often disguised herself with wigs and glasses to maintain a private life, but she was frustrated by rumors and speculation. ‘I’m a real person,’ she said, ‘and I don’t want to hide anymore.’

She explained that while she hadn’t revealed her name yet, she felt she’d always been open and honest with her audience. She believes revealing her name won’t be a shock, as everything else she’s shared has been truthful and authentic. She’s always strived to be genuine with her readers.

I’m so excited for Freida McFadden’s next book, Divorce, which is coming out in May! And as if that wasn’t enough, she’s already working on a sequel to The Housemaid movie – the first one was amazing, and this one will star Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Kirsten Dunst! I can’t wait!

McFadden isn’t alone – many celebrities use stage names! Here are some other stars and the names they prefer to be known by.

Congratulations to Post Malone! He actually added his last name to his stage name. But, he prefers his close friends to call him by his given name.

At the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift called Post Malone “Austin” when their song “Fortnight” won the award for Best Collaboration.

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who played Lilly on Modern Family, now goes by Frances Anderson. She made the name change to reflect her new focus on a career in music.

In a 2025 interview with TopMob News, Aubrey explained that ‘Frances’ is actually her middle name, a tribute to a close friend of her mother. She also mentioned she shortened her name because ‘Aubrey Anderson-Emmons’ is quite long and hyphenated.

Dakota and Elle Fanning, the sisters, both decided to use their middle names when they began their careers in Hollywood.

Elle explained that since their mother used her middle name, the sisters decided to follow suit.

You know, growing up, roll call was always a little… tricky for me. I remember telling Glamour back in 2016 that when they’d call ‘Mary?’, everyone would be confused because there wasn’t a ‘Mary’ present. I’d end up sheepishly raising my hand, just saying ‘Uh, that’s me!’ It was definitely a moment I had to navigate a lot as a kid.

The Summer House star shocked Bravo fans by revealing his legally given first name isn’t actually Carl.

“My driver’s license and passport both say William,” explained Carl, a veteran of all nine seasons of the reality show, in an August 2025 interview with PopViewers. “But I’ve always gone by Carl, ever since the beginning.”

Sterling K. Brown went by his middle name Kelby until he was a teenager.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in April 2025, he explained that his father is named Sterling Brown Jr. and his grandfather is Sterling Brown Sr. He wanted to establish his own identity and felt the name Sterling sounded too old for him.

Years after his father passed away from a heart attack, the actor – known for his role in This Is Us – decided to go back to using his original first name as a tribute.

He explained that after his father died when he was ten, he hadn’t heard anyone say his father’s name in over five years. By the time he turned sixteen, he simply wanted to hear the name again, so he asked people to call him by it – Sterling.

The winner of Traitors revealed on TopMob’s Hot Goss that his full name is Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron, but he goes by Dylan. He explained that because Nicholas is his first name, everything else gets shifted down—making Harrison his middle name now.

Brothers Andrew, Matthew, and Joey Lawrence all decided to change their last names professionally. Joey, whose middle name is Lawrence, was the first to make the switch, after a talent agent suggested the family name wasn’t ideal.

Kat Dennings began using a professional name when she was nine years old, long before she appeared on an episode of Sex and the City in 2000 and started her acting career.

Kat Dennings, known for her role in 2 Broke Girls, shared on the March 13, 2025 episode of Kylie Kelce’s podcast, Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce, that she prefers not to have her birth name publicly displayed, like on a poster.

The actress chose her stage name by combining elements from two sources: the character Kat, played by Christina Ricci in the movie Casper, and the last name of Janine Denni, the French wife of Lloyd Alexander, who was a close friend of the actress’s mother and the author of The Black Cauldron.

For over thirty years, Cher thought her full legal name was Cherilyn. However, when she requested her birth certificate in the late 1970s to legally change her name to simply Cher, she found out she was originally registered as Cheryl.

In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the singer Cher wrote about how her mother, Georgia Holt, reacted when she found out.

When she told her mother – who had her at 19 – about it, her mother exclaimed, “Let me see!” Then, remembering her own experience after giving birth, she said, “I was just a teenager myself, and I was really hurting. Cut me some slack.”

The country artist, who goes by Shaboozey, got the nickname after a spelling error on his high school records in Virginia. He eventually made it his official stage name.

The singer first released music under her real name in 2001 with a Christian album. However, she decided to use the stage name Katy Perry—taken from her mother’s family name—believing it would be more appealing to pop music listeners.

Cardi B got the nickname “Bacardi” because her sister was playfully called “Hennessy” by friends and family. She eventually shortened it to the name we know today, which felt like a better fit.

Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel. 

Shania Twain recently revealed how she came up with her stage name while on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio. Born Eilleen Regina Edwards, she was later adopted and became Eilleen Regina Twain. When she started her singing career, she realized her name sounded too much like her grandmothers’ – both were named Eilleen and Regina. She didn’t want to be associated with their names on stage, so she decided to create a new persona. She encountered someone named Shania, loved the name, and Shania Twain was born.

Chappell Roan, the artist behind the song “Good Luck, Babe!,” has always approached performing as a distinct artistic character. This allows her to maintain clear boundaries between her personal life and the demands of her career.

Interestingly, Gigi Hadid didn’t choose her stage name – it came about in school! Her teacher kept mixing her up with a classmate named Helena. Since her mom always called her “gigi” as a nickname, she asked the teacher to just refer to her as Gigi, and the name stuck.

If you’re looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead?

You know, I’ve always loved a good nickname story, and Miley Cyrus’ is particularly sweet! She actually earned the nickname ‘Smiley’ as a little girl because she was constantly beaming – can you imagine? Eventually, everyone just started calling her Miley, and the rest is history! It just goes to show how a simple, happy trait can really shape someone’s identity.

The singer resembled a Bruno more than a Peter, so his father began calling him Bruno, and that’s the name he’s known as today – Bruno Mars.

Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York.

Jason Sudeikis revealed on the Today show that his father named him Daniel. However, to avoid confusion with another family member, his mother began calling him by his middle name, Jason.

I’ve always been fascinated by how actors choose their stage names! I learned that Emma Stone actually had to change hers because someone else was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild under her real name. It’s wild to think about how close she was to not being able to use her given name in her career – a simple registration issue almost changed everything!

Interestingly, Reese Witherspoon’s first name isn’t actually her middle name! She adopted ‘Reese’ to pay tribute to her mother, whose family name it was.

Every artist creates a different public image, and for Lana Del Rey, that image is simply herself.

In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not? 

Many fans don’t realize that Tina Fey, the creator and star of 30 Rock, was actually born Elizabeth. She playfully honored her given name by naming her iconic character on the show Liz Lemon.

This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg.

It seems the singer known for “Royals” has a fascination with nobility, which is why she chose the name Lorde, adding a feminine ‘e’ to the traditional spelling.

Before becoming the famous singer Ricky Martin, he was known by a different, more common name.

It’s hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly!

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2026-04-10 03:18