Laura Hamilton has spoken out after scammers used the recent death of Jonnie Irwin to extort money from loyal fans.
The 42-year-old presenter was forced to post a video for her followers to report any donation pages claiming to be her.
Earlier this year, the mother-of-two ran the London Marathon to support the WellChild charity and to honor her late friend Jonnie, who died from lung cancer in January.
Laura had created an official Just Giving page for the donations, but discovered others had been set up after she completed the marathon pretending to be Laura.
The A Place In The Sun presenter explained that she felt sick when she heard about the scammers, she said 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 raising money for the marathon’ and still trying to get donations.”
Laura Hamilton has revealed that ‘sick’ scammers used Jonnie Irwin’s death to scam her fans out of money (pictured with the late presenter and Jasmine Harman, right)
Earlier this year, the mother-of-two ran the London Marathon to support the WellChild charity and to honor her late boyfriend Jonnie, who died from lung cancer in January.
“They weren’t legitimate for charity and that just makes me sick that people were willing to do that when I was running.
‘I had an official Just Giving page and then there are scammers sucking people up by saying ‘oh yeah, we’re still trying to raise money’ and it’s so awful.’
At the time of Jonnie’s death, Laura responded to her silence on social media, saying she had been quiet on stage out of respect for the tragic death.
She shared an album of gym photos with her 195,000 followers, reminding them that “life is short and we have to make the most of every minute.”
The heartfelt message read: ‘You may have noticed that I have been a little quiet on my social media out of respect for a friend and colleague we have lost. It reminds us all that life is short and we have to make the most of every minute.
‘This year, whilst running the London Marathon for @wellchild, I’ve decided that I’d also like to use my platform to raise some money for some other charities, so keep an eye on this space…
‘I woke up this morning with the intention of running 20km, but I only managed 14.4km because I had to go to some meetings… I’m getting there slowly and even running this distance is a huge achievement for me.
‘I had moments during my run where I wanted to quit, but I kept thinking about the cause and my reasons for doing it… if, like me, you’re running a marathon or taking part in a charity challenge, keep going strong, remember the mitten, YOU GOT THIS’
Laura had created an official Just Giving page for the donations, but discovered others had been set up after she completed the marathon pretending to be Laura
The A Place In The Sun presenter, 41, also spoke about her silence on social media, saying she had been quiet on the platform out of respect for the tragic death
Jonnie confirmed in November that his lung cancer had spread to his brain after he was first diagnosed with the disease in 2020. He died on January 26, at the age of 50.
The A Place In The Sun star told how the reason he kept his battle with cancer a secret for two years was to ‘pay the bills’ and provide for his family.
He said: ‘The only reason I kept it a secret is because I have to earn money, feed my babies and pay the bills.
‘And as soon as you say you have cancer, people just write you off.
‘I had to live with it as a secret. It was really hard to live with such a huge cloud over me and pretend to everyone.
‘I was able to work for the first year and a half. Unfortunately, one of the companies claimed they couldn’t insure and didn’t renew my contract. It has left a huge hole in my income.
‘I felt like I had been thrown on the scrap heap. They hired people within a week and then I saw someone else doing my job.”
Jonnie confirmed in November that his lung cancer had spread to his brain after he was first diagnosed with the disease in 2020. He died on January 26, at the age of 50.
