EXPLAINER: Why is ‘Kaplan heiress’ trending online?
Who is the real Kaplan heiress?
If you’ve been spending a lot of time from your holiday break just scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, chances are you’ve come across some portions of a drama that follows the story of an heiress who chooses to keep her identity private as she enters a public school.
“Kaplan heiress” became a trending topic on X and Facebook on Thursday, Dec. 26. Internet users have been jokingly complaining about how its full version ate up a huge chunk of their time since they got curious as to what would happen next after seeing snippets of it as ads on social media.
“Napuyat ako dito sa ‘Kaplan heiress’ video. Ang haba pala nito,” an X user said, adding laughing emojis.
“Hahaha! Akala ko ako lang 'yung na-hook sa Kaplan Heiress. Marami palang nabibibitin sa teasers sa FB,” another one tweeted.
“Imbes na gumagawa ako ng gawaing bahay, nanonood ako ng Kaplan heiress na ‘yan,” a Facebook user wrote.
A social media user, meanwhile, jokingly asked people to shift their focus from the trending issue between Denise Julia and BJ Pascual to the identity theft that the main character experiences on the show. “Masyado na kayong invested sa Denise Julia and BJ Pascual issue—why not focus on identity theft ni Candice Kaplan e hindi naman siya ang tunay na Kaplan heiress? Dapat kinukulong ‘yan para matuto,” they said.
Another netizen also joked, “Me pagpasok sa office this 2025: ‘I’m the real Kaplan heiress.’”
What we know about the series
The trending show is titled True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee. It stars Maya Jenson and Daniela Cuoso.
The series is about wealthy teenager Hailey Kaplan who enters public school Western High.
“Tired of being known only for her family's wealth, Hailey hopes to make genuine friends and experience a normal teenage life,” its synopsis read.
Her plans turn into chaos when Candice Mathis, the daughter of the Kaplan family's maid, pretends to be the Kaplan heiress in the same school.
“Candice quickly rises to the top of the social hierarchy, while Hailey finds herself at the bottom, subjected to bullying and ridicule,” its synopsis continued.
Now with over 60 million views, True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee is an exclusive offering from streaming platform ReelShort. You can access all its 86 episodes here. They're free until Episode 9, and you would need to pay $4.99 (P289) to $24.99 (P1,449) for the succeeding episodes, depending on your chosen subscription.