'I've had people saying it's unstable for my children'

A Place In The Sun presenter Laura Hamilton talks about her passion for travel, taking her kids on her trips and how she feels about them looking at social media

- WORDS: SHELLEY SPADONI

As a presenter on A Place In The Sun, Laura Hamilton is never too far away from her passport.

As a presenter on A Place In The Sun, Laura Hamilton is never too far away from her passport. But the busy mum-of-two always makes sure her travel plans slot seamlessly into the lives of her children Rocco, 12, and 11-year-old Tahlia.

“I've travelled with them both since they were three weeks old,” she tells us. “In the first 11 months of Tahlia’s life, she’d been on 23 flights. Some people say, ‘How do you do that?’ But it’s actually far easier to travel with a baby. I learned very quickly not to take everything with us and we only ever have hand luggage. You get in and out of the airport quicker.”

Laura has been presenting the hit Channel 4 show since 2012 and also took part in Dancing On Ice in 2011, finishing as runner-up. She’s now in her 14th year of finding couples their dream home abroad and her passion for the job remains.

“It’s everything I love — people, travel, property,” she says. “You could say we're ultimately doing the same thing each week, trying to find a couple a house. But every story is different, as is the way you bounce off people. That's what keeps it exciting.”

Outside her busy TV schedule, Laura co-parents Rocco and Tahlia with her ex, who she separated from in January 2022, and though it takes organisation they make it work brilliantly.

“They spend half of the time with me and half with their dad,” she says. “When it’s my week, they're my priority and I manage work around them. They travelled with me full-time until they were school age, so that’s their reality.”

Family trips aren’t all glitz and glamour, though. “We have done five-star hotels but equally, I grew up camping and caravanning — they're some of the best holidays I ever had,” says Laura.