This Morning fans seriously distracted by Ore Oduba's outfit as he recounts scamming hoax - and reveals shocking upside of the ordeal

Daily Mail​

23-07-2025

This Morning fans were seriously distracted by Ore Oduba's outfit as he recounted his scam experience on the show - and revealed its shocking upside.
The TV personality, 39, was reduced to tears in a six-minute video he shared to Instagram on Sunday evening, admitting he had been duped by an online hoax.
The Strictly Come Dancing winner appeared on ITV lunchtime show Loose Women in January to promote his role in the UK tour of classic musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
During the chat, he praised 'life-changing' American self-help podcaster Mel Robbins - and was afterwards contacted by someone claiming to be her, which he believed.
Ore appeared on ITV chat show This Morning on Wednesday to tell presenters Alison Hammond, 50, and Dermot O'Leary, 52, more about his ordeal.
But viewers were distracted from the serious nature of the conversation - and a shocking revelation he made about his experience - by his outfit.
The presenter was wearing a tight, black sleeveless top, with a wide open neck and several pieces of shining gold jewellery.
Some users noted it seemed out of place for an appearance on such a solemn topic, taking to X to express their opinions.
'Why is Ore Oduba always in a vest top now?', one asked, with an another user replying: 'He got scammed. Temu said it had sleeves.'
Another added: 'Ore was scammed out of his top and sleeves.'
Someone else said: 'Let me see... I'm going on live TV for a serious interview about scammers... What shall I wear...'
One commented: 'I'm feeling there was a reason he was sat there, dressed like he was about to leap up, pirouette and go full on Louie Spence...'
Others felt the segment did not add much to what Ore had already disclosed during his post on Instagram at the weekend.
'I think we all just got scammed out of ten minutes', one said, while another added, 'Pointless interview', as someone else chimed in: 'I've zoned out.'
Some users noted it seemed out of place for an appearance on such a solemn topic, taking to X to express their opinions
Others felt the segment did not add much to what Ore had already disclosed during his post on Instagram at the weekend
Ore started the chat by describing how important Mel is to him - and why he was therefore so delighted to hear from someone purporting to be her.
'I'm crazy about Mel Robbins, she's an incredible person, a self-development hero', he said.
'I found her at a point in my life where I was very vulnerable and needed the tools to get out of something very difficult.
'I immediately felt lighter, she transformed my outlook on life...
'I'd adopted her as my own life coach. When you're vulnerable and you find someone who can hook you out of a difficult place, it's really powerful.
'She'd been on a podcast and on tour - I was her number one fan and thinking, "Where's our meet up?"'
He appeared on Loose Women earlier this year after being cast as eccentric inventor father Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for a gruelling two-month run from March to May.
Ore said on the programme the philosophy Mel promotes in her bestselling 2024 book The Let Them Theory had 'changed his life'.
It felt like a dream, therefore, when Mel seemed to contact him after the show.
Across a series of emails, she invited him to appear on her podcast which is currently among the top 15 in the US with more than 20million subscribers.
He explained on This Morning: 'I felt like I'd been waiting my whole life for this. I said to my agent, "I've got this covered".'
Ore, who won dancing competition Strictly in 2016, has previously been famously knowledgeable about avoiding hoaxes.
He advised viewers on how to spot insurance scams as host of BBC documentary series Claimed And Shamed, which aimed to catch fraudsters red-handed.
But even he was taken in by the fake Mel: 'The language that was used [by the scammer] was so insidious, it really made me feel connected like someone was extending an olive branch.
'Me and my family have been through a lot. When I got the second email inviting me to be on a podcast... you've seen red flags but I was in.'
As to what the scammer wanted, Ore explained: 'Who knows... the correspondence had been going on for three weeks.
Ore (pictured on Loose Women in 2022) told Alison and Dermot he was shocked to have found himself deceived by it: 'I don't think I'm stupid...'
'They wanted to know if I had a podcast, where I lived, lots of personal information. At this point it made me tweak. If I hadn't gone to the official website to check...'
He described in his Instagram video at the weekend how he eventually spotted the email had been sent from a Gmail account - an immediate red flag.
Mel's name had also been spelled incorrectly, with a double L.
After contacting the Robbins PR team via her official website, the presenter's worst fears were confirmed.
Ore was told any correspondence sent from a Gmail account was likely to be malicious.
He told Alison and Dermot he was shocked to have found himself deceived by it: 'I don't think I'm stupid...'
'Fake Mel said we could keep all the information here on the personal email chain, it didn't seem professional or go how I thought it would.
'Before I really [went] there, I decided to do some due diligence and it became obvious.'
It came after Ore took his Instagram followers right back to the moment the scam first went down in his post confessing his experience at the weekend (pictured)
But despite how upsetting the moment was, Ore said it had a shocking upside - which is Mel herself has actually now got in touch with him.
He shared with This Morning viewers that the self-help influencer had actually sent him a DM to express solidarity after hearing about the horrible scam.
The TV personality was excited about what might come of the connection: 'If it wasn't for fake Mel the real Mel wouldn't have got in touch! I can't wait.'
It came after Ore took his Instagram followers right back to the moment the scam first went down in his post confessing his experience at the weekend.
He said of his Loose Women appearance that started it all: 'I reposted that interview, I tagged the Mel Robbins podcast, tagged the Let Them theory, tagged Mel, tagged everybody who cared.
'And then I got an email from my agent who forwarded on an email from the team at the Mel Robbins podcast.
'I could have cried - they knew who I was! I got an email from the Mel Robbins podcast team.'
He added: 'I told Mel everything. How she had changed my life.
'And I literally said at the end of the email, "Even for you to know who I am, is everything. Thank you so much for getting in touch".'
Admitting he was 'ashamed and embarrassed', he said: 'I'm reading this back and I know exactly how it made me feel at the time.
'I wrote back and I said, "Mel, I'm holding back tears. Is this for real? You must have AI helping you correspond with all of these fans."
'Mel wrote back, "Of course it's me - it's Mel Robbins!"
'So, then, I lost my s***, I absolutely lost my s***, in tears on an Avanti West Coast train from Birmingham to London, thinking that my whole life was about to change.'
He added: 'By the way, I used to host a show about scammers. I have watched enough Watchdog to last a lifetime - that doesn't stop me being in the middle of it.
'I never thought I'd be the person that would be scammed.'
Captioning Sunday's Instagram post, Oduba admitted he was fortunate to spot the scam before parting with any money.
He wrote: 'I'm ashamed, I'm embarrassed and I'm human.
'Did not think I would be the kind of person who could be scammed but this proves it really can happen to anyone.
'Especially with the help and manipulation of AI. I'm terrified how easily I was "hooked". It was SO convincing, it's scary.'
He added: 'I've made no secret of how much Mel Robbins, her book and podcast have helped me through a really difficult period.
'Truth is, I turned an emotional blind eye to something I so deeply wanted to believe was for me and nearly got myself into a whole heap of trouble.
'(Side note.. I've realised in making this video how often we do the same thing in relationships too!)
'Listen to your gut, it's most likely telling you the truth. And don't get scammed, it's no fun.
'Still inspired by and love Mel Robbins and so grateful to them for their swift response. I got lucky - it could so easily have been too late.'
Mel's book The Let Them Theory sold 100,000 copies in its first week.
It topped both The New York Times and the Sunday Times' bestseller lists for a month following its release in 2024.
A host of celebrities have praised the book, with talk show host Oprah Winfrey, for instance, calling it a 'life-changing tool for those seeking to regain power and peace'.
Mel had previously discussed the mindset - which suggests whenever someone is not behaving how you want, you should just let them be - with Instagram followers.
'I just heard about this thing called the "let them" theory. I freaking love this', she said.
'If your friends are not inviting you out to brunch this weekend, let them.
'If the person that you're attracted to is not interested in a commitment, let them.
'If your kids do not want to get up and go to that thing with you this week, let them.'
Robbins noted: 'So much time and energy is wasted on forcing other people to match our expectations.'
She added the technique is especially important to follow if a partner or a friend is not showing up for you the way you need them to.
'Do not try to force them to change. Let them be themselves because they are revealing who they are to you,' she advised.
'Just let them. And then you get to choose what you do next.'