Hot Property! Channel 4’s Laura Hamilton
It’s not every day you get to talk about someone as a blonde bombshell but television presenter Laura Hamilton certainly ticks many of the right boxes with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and ample charms. She currently hosts Channel 4’s ‘A Place In The Sun’ where she can be seen showing hopeful UK buyers some of the hottest properties from abroad. Previously she has put her body on the line in the name of television entertainment for channel 4’s ‘The Jump’ and ITV’s ‘Dancing On Ice’; showing there’s way more to this girl than just glitz and glamour having survived both of the gruelling celebrity competitions and coming a more than creditable second in the latter.
There is little doubt then that it is not just her sickeningly good looks that have enabled her to achieve the success that has come her way. Having decided to skip university even though she had been offered a place, she set her sights on working in TV and was offered a one-year contract at Channel 4 starting out as a runner making tea for Dermot O’Leary. A brave choice perhaps but one she felt compelled to do, relatively safe in the knowledge that she could always go back to university if all else failed. So TV became her calling and she ended up working on a variety of TV productions such as Top of The Pops, Big Brother and The Games; quickly progressing to assistant floor manager.
“I started off being a runner learning all about the industry, learning what everyone does and I think that actually really helped me as a presenter because I appreciate what everybody’s role is from runner to researcher to floor manager all the way up to exec producer even to crew members like camera man, sound men - it just helps you appreciate what everyone does.”
Becoming an actual TV presenter was always her ambition though and through a chance meeting she was encouraged to pursue her ambitions with more gusto.
“It got to the point where I was like you know what if I never ever get into presenting - breaking it - I’m in an industry that I love and I was happy with that but I ended up doing a local pantomime and I met an actor who was in Eastenders and he said to me you should pursue what you want, try and break it: get an agent, do this and do that.”
It seemed to do the trick and she got her first opportunity having responded to an advertisement in the Stage for a children’s TV show and made her debut as ‘Melody’ in CITV’s ‘Fun Song Factory’ alongside JLS’ Aston Merrygold. She continued working in children’s TV for several years with Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network before getting perhaps her major big break when a colleague asked her for a favour. This colleague happened to be working on ‘A Question of Sport’ whose forthcoming live run-throughs were all ready to go ahead with its sporting panel – except Sue Barker was missing! So who better to fill Ms Barker’s boots than this busty blonde bombshell, Laura Hamilton?!
This sequence of fortuitous events doesn’t stop there for our intrepid presenter, as one of the show’s panel happened to be ice skater Karen Baber from ‘Dancing On Ice’ notoriety. Coincidence or not, Laura was then asked whether she would like to take part on that show and after momentarily questioning her own level of household famousness she of course accepted the offer…and the rest is ‘Dancing On Ice’ history as the little known CITV starlet went on to come runner-up in 2011 series.
“My series of Dancing On Ice was on quite a few years ago now. It was a crazy experience, the press are interested in you, I had journalists finding out where my mum and dad lived, they were knocking on their door, trying to get them to tell stories, it was a bizarre experience.”
Featuring on a hugely popular national celebrity TV show like ‘Dancing On Ice’ with consistently high viewing figures every week (peaking at over 10 million viewers) cannot do anything but lift the profiles of its celebrity contestants and Laura, who was by her own admission an unknown before the show, was fully aware of what doing the show could do for her. She wowed the audiences with her elegant skating and made them gasp at her bravery as she did the gravity defying ‘head-banger’ manoeuvre (where she got swung from her ankles - her head inches from the ice!).
“You start with a crash helmet on and you have to go for it and put your faith and trust in your partner. They’re all professional skaters, they’re 100% professional skaters. I trusted Colin the guy I skated with implicitly, he was fantastic and also Chris and Jane (Torvil & Dean) who obviously choreographed the routines - they don’t let you do anything until they feel you are ready.”
Her sporting prowess and all round gutsiness did not go unnoticed and she was duly approached by television execs for the TV program ‘Fort Boyard’ to front their new show and although she was looking to break away from children’s TV the opportunity to be a part of a fun, challenging, adventure show was right up her street.
“It was an action, adventure show and it was an amazing experience. I went in and did it because if you do some of these shows it is an opportunity to raise your profile and ultimately that is part of the job of being a presenter or being in this industry that you do need a profile and a presence.”
She did ‘Fort Boyard’ for 5 years before she was eventually whisked off to ‘A Place In The Sun’, a surprising departure you might think for this bubbly blonde girl from Essex. But there’s even more to her than meets the eye, as she nonchalantly mentions she has been renovating properties since the age of 19 - and all entirely self funded! A surprising sideline perhaps for such a glamorous looking gal but none the less a perfect match for the show’s requirements where she is able to weaken the stone hearted investees whilst confidently reassuring them with her expertise and know how. She has since cemented herself further in this field presenting on further popular property shows including ‘Cowboy Builders’ and ‘Bodge Jobs’ for Channel 5.
After her success on ‘Dancing On Ice’ it wasn’t surprising then that the next big celebrity show came knocking and this time it was ‘The Jump’. The show, sadly infamous for its celebrity injuries, was perhaps an alarming choice especially for someone who had barely given birth to her second child (just 4 weeks previously!), but she proved again her unwavering ambition and total fearlessness.
“I obviously got to do some amazing things that you don’t get to do like the skeleton and bobsleigh, yeah it was brilliant. I didn’t realise actually how dangerous it was all going to be and I look back and think I can’t believe I actually did that! But when else am I going to get the opportunity to have a go at the skeleton, so it’s one of those things, you want to do it, you want to give it a go. I feel lucky that I’ve met some amazing people doing the shows that I’ve done. You know its great that I’m still in contact with some of the people - Sir Steve Redgrave from ‘The Jump’ I get a Christmas card from him every year!”
Both shows can be exhilarating to watch and are visually spectacular, in particular ‘Dancing On Ice’ where the costumes of the women and men are as much a feature of the show as the dance routines themselves. Laura has shown she is not shy in garnering this element of TV either, and on ‘A Place In The Sun’ she’s not adverse to wearing an eye popping outfit or two but she assures me there is no pressure from the TV execs or anybody else in what she should or shouldn’t wear.
“I don’t ever pick an outfit for A Place In the Sun thinking I’m going to wear this because I want to create a reaction to see what people say about me, how great my boobs look or my legs look or whatever. I would dress in a certain outfit because it makes me feel good about myself and I think that looks nice and I would wear that out, not necessary because I’m on TV.”
So it’s a confidence for her and is obviously something she is well in-tune with, knowing an attention-grabbing outfit can be good for both the show’s glamorous appeal as well as the general mass media at large. And why not? There should always be a place for nice boobs and legs on British TV (as superficial as it may sound) as people, fashion and presenterbility are all likely to remain important ingredients in the media, in whatever shape or form.
“One of those things about being a presenter on TV is that you have to be you. I’m not an actress; I’m not playing a character. I am being me and people want to see who you are as a presenter. In the world of television, a lot of it comes down to who is in the magazines that week, who are people interested in reading about, who are people interested in watching on TV. That’s sometimes how simple things are cast.”
Julian Gaskell