A year has passed since the internet was captivated by a girl's claim that she believed she was Madeleine McCann.
This claim sent shockwaves through the digital world, prompting the McCann family to issue a public statement.
Following the controversy, Julia, the girl in question, vanished from the public eye and removed her Instagram account.
Now, she's breaking her silence on the entire ordeal.
Julia Wandelt created a specific Instagram account "I am Madeleine McCann" to present what she considered evidence of her identity as the long-missing girl.
This included physical resemblances to Madeleine and peculiar childhood memories she believed connected her to the case.
The story quickly captured everyone's attention, becoming a topic of widespread discussion.
Yet, a DNA test later disproved Julia's claims, revealing her true Polish heritage, contrary to being of British descent. Following this revelation, Julia deleted her social media presence and retreated from the public eye.
Julia has now come forward, expressing regret over her previous assertions.
In an interview with The BBC, she reflected, "I never meant to hurt anyone, including the McCanns. I really wanted to know who I am."
Given the chance to turn back time, Julia stated she would have refrained from creating the Instagram account.
"I would never go on social media. It can destroy you," she shared, recounting the impact social media had on her life.
During the interview, Julia talked about her motivations and the consequences of her actions.
Julia attributed part of her actions to a traumatic upbringing. She disclosed being a victim of sexual abuse as a child and facing isolation at school.
It was during therapy at age 20 that Julia noticed gaps in her childhood memories, prompting her to seek answers from her family.
She sought familial assistance to piece together her past:
"For example, can you show me some pictures from childhood? Can you show me your pregnancy photos?"
However, her family was dismissive of her inquiries.
Speaking to The Tab, Julia recounted her family's reluctance to engage with her theories.
"[My] mother didn't want to talk about it," she revealed.
"She said the past is in the past and she is not going to talk about the past. She said now is the future and we should focus on the future. My dad said, 'Even if I am not your father will it change anything?'".
This search for answers led her to missing persons websites, where she discovered Madeleine McCann's case, previously unfamiliar to her due to its lack of prominence in Poland.
The first piece of "evidence" was her recognition of a suspect sketch.
"I know [what] my abuser looks like. And I know this is very, very similar to the suspects from [the] Madeleine McCann page," she explained.
Julia also noted physical similarities between herself and Madeleine, particularly a coloboma of the iris, a rare eye condition they both share.
This condition creates a keyhole-shaped appearance in the pupil and affects one in every 10,000 babies.
After reaching out to authorities in both Poland and the UK without being taken seriously, Julia turned to social media, establishing the now-deleted @Iammadeleinemcann Instagram account.
"I was looking at what people write, what they say, if they believe me or if they will ignore me," she recounted, gaining millions of followers.
The attention wasn't solely positive; Julia faced severe backlash, including death threats.
"I knew that there will be people who will not believe me or hate me, but I didn't expect that I will get death threats, for example. It was something that I don't understand. People knew that I was abused and they all knew that I deal with depression," she shared.
Despite the hatred, including messages saying, "you should die. You should be raped. You should be killed. You should be murdered. You shouldn't exist in this world. You're a bitch," Julia continued to post in search of the truth.
One individual even offered a £25,700 bounty for her.
Her quest for identity led her to appear on Dr. Phil, where she agreed to a DNA test.
"I want to know who I am," she stated, seeking clarity on her past.
The DNA test results conclusively showed that Julia was of Polish descent, with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage, debunking her belief that she was Madeleine McCann.
In response, Julia extended an apology to the McCann family: "I apologised to the McCanns because I don't know them personally. I don't know if they were watching this journey, if they were sad or whatever. And I just wanted to say sorry. Because every person can react in a different way and maybe it brought them more sadness."
"I didn't want them to feel sad," she added, expressing a desire to potentially aid in the search for Madeleine.
Julia's family also issued a statement, affirming her belonging within their family unit.
"For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step-niece. We have memories, we have pictures. We always tried to understand all the situations that happened with Julia."
The Find Madeleine campaign, her official search organization, was contacted by The BBC, stating their willingness to accept Julia's apology and move past the incident.
Julia now finds solace in the resolution of her public saga.
Reflecting on her journey, she recognizes her strength and resilience, "I realise that I am strong and I am a fighter and I'm not a weak person."
She believes the experience, albeit challenging, has been transformative.
