Former Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore Oduba has said he is “ashamed” after falling victim to an elaborate online scam.
The 39-year-old former Newsround presenter, who once hosted a series about avoiding fraud, revealed he was tricked into believing personal growth expert Mel Robbins had invited him onto her popular podcast.
“I’m ashamed, I’m embarrassed and I’m human,” he wrote on Sunday (20 July) underneath an Instagram video lasting for six minutes. “Did not think I would be the kind of person who could be scammed, but this proves it really can happen to anyone.”
The scam occurred after Oduba advocated for Robbins’s most recent work, “The Let Them Theory”, on Loose Women, saying it had “changed my life”.
The theory, which says you should only focus on what is in your control, has gained traction online and in Robbins’s bestselling book of the same name released earlier this year.
“I reposted that interview, I tagged the Mel Robbins podcast, tagged the Let Them 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,” 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.’”
Oduba said that, while he was travelling on a train from Birmingham to London, he thought his “whole life was going to change”.
However, he later noticed that the email address had spelt Robbins’s name incorrectly and had been sent from a Gmail account. The author’s PR later told him that the invitation did not come from them, confirming to Oduba that it had been a hoax.
The TV personality has previously presented Claimed and Shamed, a documentary series following fraudsters, and admitted he never thought he would be scammed.
“I used to host a show about scammers,” he continued. “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.”
He continued: “Especially with the help and manipulation of AI. I’m terrified how easily I was ‘hooked’. It was SO convincing, it’s scary.”
Reflecting on his feelings towards the self-help guru in the aftermath of the experience, Oduba said: “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.
“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 @melrobbins@letthemtheory and so grateful to them for their swift response. I got lucky – it could so easily have been too late.”
Oduba, now a father-of-two, presented Newsround from 2008 until 2013, and has hosted sports coverage for BBC Breakfast, Match of the Day Kickabout and the National Lottery Awards.
He won the BBC competition Strictly Come Dancing alongside his partner Joanne Clifton in 2016.
The presenter has also dabbled in acting and made his West End debut in Curtains the Musical in 2020 and toured the UK and Ireland for Pretty Woman: The Musical last year.
