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Privacy NoticeLaura Hamilton, the cherished presenter from ‘A Place In The Sun’, has bravely shared her personal fight with the lesser-known disease immune thrombocytopenia, also known as ITP. This condition is notorious for causing heightened bruising and bleeding, a battle she’s facing stoically. The 42 year old travel show host has kept her struggle with ITP so well-managed that most viewers are unaware of her health issues. Laura, who has graced our screens on the hit property programme since 2012, is also diving into the world of podcasts with her very own ‘Mile Fly Club’. Speaking openly with the Daily Star during a Facebook Live chat, Laura gave us an insight into her condition.
The star has been presenting A Place in the Sun since 2012
(Image: Laura Hamilton/Instagram)
She explained: “I have something called ITP, Immune thrombocytopenia, which is low platelets count in my blood its quite an unknown disease.” And about how stress affects her, she noted: “It sort of flares ups and downs depending on what’s going on with my life and stress often brings it out.” Reminiscing about an on-set experience, Laura recounted: “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.” She admitted her awareness of the consequences, saying: “I was like ‘oh I shouldn’t have done that because I’m gonna have bruises on my leg from ITP.'” But then came a touching moment of connection, as she explained: “Mark stopped and was like ‘how do you know what ITP is?'” Laura shared a poignant memory when Mark revealed: “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.” In a surprising revelation about the unexpected connection between co-presenters, the host expressed awe: “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’.” Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
Laura Hamilton is also recording a podcast
(Image: Instagram)
On their health struggles, the presenter added candidly: “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.” Meanwhile, A Place In The Sun’s beloved Jean Johansson opened up about her presbyopia diagnosis, an age-related condition affecting the ability to focus on close objects. When finally attending to her declining vision at 42, Jean experienced a remarkable turnaround after an eye test affirmed her concerns. She openly shared how it revolutionised her life: “I can honestly say it’s been life-changing.” Delving into her hesitancy, Jean speculated: “I’m not entirely sure why it took me so long to admit I needed glasses,” thinking it might be linked to an unconscious resistance to acknowledge aging. Nonetheless, she now confidently accepts it as an inevitable part of life.
Jean Johansson opened up about her health diagnosis after ‘ignoring signs for years’
(Image: Channel 4)
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