Place in the Sun Laura Hamilton's life - Womble dad, killer disease and tragedy
Laura Hamilton's one decision as a teen set her life on a completely different path (Image: @laurahamiltontv/instagram)
Laura Hamilton has been on our screens for almost 20 years and is best known for fronting A Place in the Sun. Channel 4 star Laura, 43, started presenting the daytime classic back in February 2012, but her career path has been anything but predictable.
Born and raised in Kent, her dad, Ian Hamilton, also had a flair for entertainment, and was part of a 70s iconic pop band The Wombles - the spin-off from the children's TV show.
Laura also spent plenty of time in Scotland, where her grandad hailed from. "When I was a kid, my parents and I went up on a sleeper train to Fort William to a skiing range. The sleeper train up to Fort William was absolutely beautiful and that was my first skiing experience,' she told the Daily Record.
Laura Hamilton's love of travel came from visiting Scotland as a kid, but she tragically couldn't attend her Scottish grandad's funeral due to Covid-19 restrictions (Image: PR SUPPLIED)
She added: "As kids, we grew up camping and caravanning. I saw a lot of Scotland. It's beautiful up there. And when I was starting out in my career I worked for a company called Lion TV that is based in Glasgow.'
Sadly, Laura's grandad - who had such an impact on her childhood - died in 2020 while the country was still under tight Covid-19 restrictions. The year after, she opened up about the tragedy. "My grandad passed away last August, aged 89, and I had to watch the funeral online. We had a strong bond so it was hard, but I wrote a poem that was read out. I like to think my grandad's watching over me."
After studying her A-Levels, Laura set to sit law and psychology at university, but in a life-changing move, she turned down her uni offer and instead signed a one-year contract to work as a runner for Dermot O'Leary on Channel 4.
TV was a natural fit and she soon became an Assistant Floor Manager for shows including Top of the Pops, The Buckingham Palace Jubilee Celebrations, and Big Brother.
The star turned down her uni offer to work as a runner for Dermot O'Leary, and even worked on Harry Potter behind the camera before starting her presenting career (Image: Instagram/laurahamiltontv)
Next, she was promoted to assistant director roles, and even helped behind the scenes on The Bill and the Harry Potter films franchise. After years behind the camera, things changed when she secured the role of Melody in the beloved CITV show Fun Song Factory, before becoming a key Nickelodeon presenter.
Soon enough, Laura moved on from kids' TV to work on shows such as The Xtra Factor, and even competed on Dancing on Ice in 2011, with her career kicking off more than ever after A Place in the Sun with work as a guest presenter on This Morning.
Alongside her TV work, Laura also has a podcast called The Mile Fly Club, and has some surprising hobbies and side hustles away from showbiz.
In 2017, the village shop in her south London neighbourhood was closing down, which she quickly snapped up and saved. Laura then became a landlady, reopening the shop as a pub and restaurant called Lord Roberts on the Green, which she sold in 2021.
And her latest venture? Taking to the skies independently. Alongside following her dad into showbiz, Laura's dad Ian also inspired her to learn how to fly planes. She explained: "I've always been interested in learning to fly because my dad has a private pilot's license he had when I was growing up. Running a business, you can never take your foot off the pedal and you're always having to keep an eye on the spend but this was something that has always been on my bucket list.
"I'm being taught by a BA pilot out of Redhill, Surrey, which is not too far from where I live. I've had a few lessons in a Cessna 152 and I have to rack up 45 hours before I get my private pilot's license and there's lots of exams I have to pass."
Laura opened a pub with her ex-husband Alex Goward, and is now becoming a pilot in her free time after selling the London eatery (Image: Getty Images)
Laura added that selling the pub had made room for her ambition, admitting: 'Running a business, you can never take your foot off the pedal and you're always having to keep an eye on the spend but this was something that has always been on my bucket list.'
Between working and training as a pilot, Laura is also a mum of two kids, Rocco and Tahlia, whom she shares with her former hubby Alex Goward. In January 2022, Laura announced the end of her nine-year marriage to Alex with a poignant Instagram post quoting Dr. Seuss: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
Alongside the quote, she shared a personal message: "This isn't something I ever thought I'd be saying but, after 13 years of being together Alex and I have separated. Our children are and always will be our number one priority and we would respect privacy for our family at this time. Laura."
She later revealed that their separation was amicable, explaining: "It was a decision we both came to. We have an enormous amount of respect for each other, but we are now on different paths. At the point it was announced, we'd already overcome a lot of difficult times. But I am lucky that we have the relationship and respect for each other that we have, and our children's happiness will always be our priority."
She's now rumoured to be in a new relationship with CEO James Pettigrew, with Laura said to have started dating the businessman in January 2024. James was still legally married when they started seeing each other, with their romance reportedly taking his estranged wife Jackie by surprise.
Meanwhile, Laura has also been open about her personal health struggles, particularly with Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a condition that leads to a low platelet count and is prone to causing easy or excessive bruising and bleeding.
In a candid chat with the Daily Star, Laura opened up about her health struggles. She shared: "I have something called ITP, Immune thrombocytopenia, which is low platelet count in my blood, it's quite an unknown disease. It sort of flares up and down depending on what's going on with my life, and stress often brings it out."
One of the reasons for Laura's gorgeous floaty dresses is to hide her bruised legs - after she opened up about her struggle with Immune thrombocytopenia
Recalling a recent encounter while filming, she said: "It was really mad a year ago I was filming A Place In The Sun with a lovely couple in France - Mark and Janine - and I just stood there and I had an insect bite on my leg and I started scratching it. I was like 'Oh I shouldn't have done that because I'm gonna have bruises on my leg from ITP.'"
To her surprise, Mark responded intimately, knowing exactly what Laura was talking about, "Mark stopped and was like 'how do you know what ITP is?'" His personal connection to the illness brought further gravity to the conversation as he explained, "And he told me that really sadly his sister had died from ITP and he said it was really good how I was trying to raise awareness of it."
"It's one of them times where you think they could have been paired with anybody as a presenter and nobody knew about the ITP link so it was just like 'wow'." The presenter continued: "But that's kind of under control at the moment I don't have bruising quite like that on my legs but it does happen it does flare up but I'm always trying to be positive about things and be a glass half-full."
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