Laura Hamilton forced to issue warning over 'disgusting' Jonnie Irwin scam: 'Makes me sick'
Laura warned her fans of scammers
INSTAGRAM/BBC
Channel 4 presenter Laura Hamilton has revealed she has been targeted by scammers who are using friend and co-star Jonnie Irwin's name to con money out of her fans via fake fundraising pages.
Irwin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020 but kept his illness private until late 2022, and revealed it had spread to his brain before he died in February this year.
Hamilton and co-star Jasmine Harman have been very vocal about how they feel with Irwin no longer in their lives, with the former running the London Marathon earlier this year in aid of the WellChild charity.
She ran the annual event in honour of Irwin but recently found out that people were still using fake pages and Irwin's name to scam loyal fans and followers out of money.
She told The Sun: "I raised five and a half grand for them, but after I ran the marathon there were people saying, 'Do you know there are people setting up scam pages' saying I'm still fundraising for the marathon and still trying to get donations?'
"They weren't legitimately for the charity and that just makes me feel sick that people were willing to do that when I was running.
"I had an official Just Giving page and then there are scammers that are sucking people in saying, 'Oh yeah we're still trying to fundraise' and that is so terrible."
This isn't the first time that Hamilton has spoken to her followers about scammers, as she recently told fans to block and report the scammers to the police in an emotional video.
"If you look at my Instagram page it says this is my only page, it's just madness that people seem to do it and very frustrating."
Following Irwin's death earlier this year, Hamilton posted an emotional tribute to the star on her Instagram account alongside a black and white picture of him.
Laura and Jasmine were the first to pay tributes when Jonnie died
She penned: “Without doubt one of the best… Funny, intelligent, kind-hearted, one of a kind, Jonnie you will forever be missed," adding she was “heartbroken” to lose a member of their A Place in the Sun family.
Hamilton's co-star Jasmine Harman recently broke down speaking about how much she missed her friend and told This Morning presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: "You never know what's around the corner and I think Jonnie's situation, we can all take something from it.
"We can all cherish every day and live with as much joy as possible and that's what he did."
Elsewhere, Irwin's wife Jess talked openly about losing her husband last month and recalled to Hello! how her sons, Cormac, Rafa and Rex, would often ask questions about their father.
She said of one of her son's questions: "Can the spaceman not find him?' That broke my heart.
Rex had these wrap-around sunglasses on when we went away recently and he pointed to the screws and said, 'Mummy, look – if you press this button, you can see up in the sky.
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Jonnie was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020 which later spread to his brain
ITV
"And if you press this button, you can speak to Daddy'. Rex will say, 'Would Daddy like to watch this?' or, 'Was this Daddy's favourite chocolate?'
"He wants to include him, whereas with the twins, it's more, 'I want Daddy to come back,' and I say, 'Yes, I do, too'."