Strictly star breaks down in tears and says he's ‘ashamed' after falling victim to cruel scam
TV and radio presenter Ore Oduba, 39, won the BBC dancing series back in 2016.
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Taking to Instagram, the star opened up about having fallen for a scam.
During an appearance on Loose Women, Ore praised US podcaster Mel Robbins and her self-help books.
In particular, he told how Mel's bestselling 2024 release The Let Them Theory had "changed his life".
Speaking in an emotional six-minute video, Ore shared: "I reposted that interview, I tagged the Mel Robbins podcast, tagged the Let Me 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."
Continuing, Ore explained how he "told Mel everything" and added: "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."
After revealing he was "ashamed and embarrassed" about falling for the con, Ore recounted how the email extended an invite to Mel's hugely popular podcast.
He said: "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**t, I absolutely lost my s**t, in tears on an Avanti West Coast train from Birmingham to London, thinking that my whole life was about to change."
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Ore recalled he "used to host a show about scammers" and had "watched enough Watchdog to last a lifetime".
However, as the star said: "That doesn't stop me being in the middle of it.
'I never thought I'd be the person that would be scammed.'
He realised the email came from a Gmail account - which sparked an immediate red flag.
Even worse, Mel's name had been incorrectly spelled with a double 'L.'
Upon contacting Mel's PR team via her official website, Ore had his fears confirmed - any correspondence sent from a Gmail account would likely be malicious.
His post caption included: "Still inspired by and love @melrobbins@letthemtheory and so grateful to them for their swift response. I got lucky - it could so easily have been too late."
"I was excited and then so gutted for you listening to this. Important to share your story. Hope you're ok."
Another follower wrote: "Oh Ore, I'm just sad that it wasn't the real Mel team for you."
A third added: "Easy mistake to make because they went via your agent first!"
While Ore himself remarked: "Thank you so much everybody… there's a lot of kindness out there, I see it and I'm grateful for it (dw I've deleted and blocked the drivel."
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