Presenter and actor Ore Oduba breaks down in tears after falling for scam
Presenter, consumer journalist and Strictly star Ore Oduba has revealed that he fell victim to a scam after being contacted by someone he thought was one of his heroes. Oduba, who once taught people how to avoid scams on BBC show Claimed and Shamed, has shared a tearful admission after believing he had been contacted by life coach and author Mel Robbins.
Oduba, 39, has shared a six-minute video on Instagram saying scammers targeted him after he shared his passion for Robbins, who has 20million followers thanks to her life-changing theories - including the book The Let Them Theory.
The scam came after Oduba had appeared on ITV's Loose Women and shared his love of Mel Robbins, then took to social media.
He said: "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."
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."
Oduba broke down in tears as he said he was then invited onto the Robbins' podcast - one of the biggest 15 in the USA. 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**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."
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."
When he calmed down, Oduba realised the email had come from a Gmail address - and Mel Robbins name had been spelled incorrectly. He contacted the Mel Robbins PR team via her official website, and was fake.
He wrote on the Instgram post: " 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 (sidenote.. 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."
Ore Oduba is a prominent British TV and radio presenter, actor, and stage performer. He first rose to national attention as the presenter of CBBC's Newsround from 2008 to 2013 and later went on to host shows like The One Show, This Morning, ITV 's game show Hardball, and BBC's charity specials including And They're Off! for Sport Relief.
His big breakthrough came in 2016, when he won the 14th series of Strictly Come Dancing, earning both critical acclaim and mass affection. That victory launched him into further public-facing roles—from guest presenting on BBC Radio 2 to hosting the Strictly Live Tour to performing at events like the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Beyond broadcasting, Ore is also an accomplished stage actor. Since 2019, he's been in musicals like Grease (UK tour), Curtains (West End debut in January 2020), Pretty Woman (UK & Ireland tour), and roles in The Rocky Horror Show. His screen acting debut was in the BBC drama Noughts + Crosses, and he made it through to the finals of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2021.
Mel Robbins is an American author, former criminal defense attorney, motivational speaker, podcast host, and former CNN legal analyst. She released her first book, Stop Saying You're Fine, in 2010. In 2011, her TEDx talk 'How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over' introduced her signature '5‑Second Rule' technique—a tool designed to break hesitation and prompt action—amassing tens of millions of views.
Her book The Let Them Theory taught people to focus on what they can control. She is Host of The Mel Robbins Podcast, launched in 2022, which consistently ranks among the top global podcasts with over 187 million downloads.
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