Who are the A Place In The Sun presenters? Meet the hosts of Channel 4 show including Laura Hamilton
Jonnie Irwin’s grieving wife Jessica Holmes has revealed his death ‘still doesn’t feel real’ as she posted an emotional update on Instagram on Tuesday.
A Place In The Sun presenter Jonnie passed away on February 2 after a brave three-year fight with cancer, following his diagnosis with lung cancer in 2020.
As she broke her silence two weeks after announcing his death, Jessica told how her ‘sadness was huge’ and she was struggling to see her future without him.
But who else has presented the show since its inaugural series in 2002? Read on below to find out the other familiar faces to have hosted A Place In The Sun.
Jasmine Harman
Jasmine Harman has been part of A Place In The Sun since 2004, hosting over 200 episodes
Jasmine Harman has been part of A Place In The Sun since 2004, when she presented A Place in the Sun: Home or Away? with Jonnie.
The Londoner was born on November 15, 1975, and has six younger siblings.
She has heritage in sunnier climbs herself, with many relatives who live in Cyprus, making her a prime candidate to lead the show.
Five years into her spell on the Channel 4 hit show, Jasmine married TV cameraman Jon Boast – who she met on the show – and the pair now have two children – a daughter called Joy and a son called Albion.
Over 200 episodes of A Place In The Sun later, and Jasmine is one of its most recognisable faces, but she has also made TV appearances elsewhere.
In 2011, she fronted a very personal documentary for BBC One called My Hoarder Mum And Me, which followed her family’s attempts to overcome her mother’s compulsive hoarding after her own father was shot dead aged just 32 in 1958.
A follow up documentary, Britain’s Biggest Hoarders, came the following year and Jasmine has also appeared on the BBC to present The Zoo Next Door, Collectaholics and The Truth About Your Teeth.
Before TV Jasmine worked in the Health Club industry in the Algarve working as a marketing manager for a luxury health resort, where she began writing professionally and hosted her own twice-weekly live magazine show on the region’s most popular radio station – Kiss FM.
Laura Hamilton
Laura Hamilton is another of the best known faces on A Place In The Sun’s presenting team, which she has been a part of since 2011
Laura Hamilton is another of the best known faces on A Place In The Sun’s presenting team, which she has been a part of since 2011.
Before then, Laura had built her career in children’s TV after getting her foot in the door as a runner at Channel 4.
Laura was born on April 24, 1982, and grew up in Dartford, Kent, where she went to the local grammar school.
Rather than going to university, Laura turned down an offer to study Law and Psychology in favour of a year contract as a runner for Dermot O’Leary.
A number of other backstage jobs later and she landed the role of Melody in CITV’s Fun Song Factory which she had for over two years before the show finished in 2006.
She then became the female face of Nickelodeon – presenting a number of shows over four years before her transition to daytime TV.
Shortly before her debut on A Place In The Sun, Laura appeared on ITV’s sixth series of Dancing On Ice.
She worked on ITV for a couple of years too, presenting children’s game show Fort Boyard in 2012 and reporting on Daybreak in 2013 and 2014.
On Channel 4, Laura has spliced her jobs for A Place In The Sun with a presenting gig on Beat Mu Build (2012-2013) and by starring in 2013’s debut series of The Jump.
But her proudest productions are none of those, but her two children – Rocco, born in 2013, and Tahlia, born in 2015 – who travel with their mother wherever she films.
Jean Johansson
Jean Johansson said presenters do not change their clothes while filming in order to give off the impression that everything happens in one day
Jean Johansson was born on November 15 1981 in Port Glasgow, Scotland and has presented A Place In The Sun since 2018, after beginning her career as a child actress in 1998 as she appeared on CBBC and The Disney Channel.
In November 2023, she revealed a previously unknown secret about the show.
Speaking to OK! magazine, Jean said presenters do not change their clothes while filming in order to give off the impression that everything happens in one day.
She said: ‘If there was a thing called ‘smell-o-vision’, we would not be on air.
‘Because we want each show to look like everything happens in one day, we all wear the same outfits for six days straight. So the big secret of the show is that we stink.’
The Scotswoman is also one half of a famous couple, as she is married to former footballer Jonatan Johansson.
They met while Jonatan was playing for Rangers in Glasgow and married one another in 2008.
Leah Charles-King
Leah Charles-King credits her role on A Place In The Sun – which she has featured on since 2021 – for helping her to deal with bipolar disorder
Leah Charles-King’s career began at a young age, pursuing her onscreen goals as a child actress.
As a teenager, she burst onto the music scene as a founding member of the R ‘n’ B group Kle’shay, who had two Top 40 singles – Reasons and Rush – during the 1990s.
Subsequently moving into broadcasting as a presenter and live correspondent, Leah has also been open about her mental health struggles, revealing that she almost took her own life in an interview with the Express in April 2023.
Speaking about the struggles of dealing with bipolar disorder, she said: ‘I was so impulsive within this mania and I was just so fed up of all the pain and anguish that a mental illness like bipolar could bring that I’d had enough’.
Leah revealed that her mental health was being so badly impacted that she almost committed suicide, but summounded up the courage to make a trip to the GP.
She added: ‘If I didn’t get help today, I knew what I was going to do and so I wrote this note and I plucked up the last bit of strength that I had to go into what I believed was my final battle’.
‘I remember standing in this queue in tears – silent tears – and when I got to the front of the queue to reception, I just passed this note across the desk [saying] ‘I’m suicidal and I need help now. If you send me home, I’m going to kill myself.’
However, she credits her role on A Place In The Sun – which she has featured on since 2021 – for helping her to turn her life around.
‘The show’s been completely life-changing for me. For somebody who’s been in TV for a long time and felt I was very overlooked for many years, I’d just been waiting for that break.’ she explained.
Lee Juggurnauth
Prior to joining A Place In The Sun in 2021, Lee Juggurnauth worked as a property developer and artist manager, which saw him work alongside the likes of Lulu, Billy Ocean and Take That
Prior to joining A Place In The Sun in 2021, Lee Juggurnauth worked as a property developer and artist manager, which saw him work alongside the likes of Lulu, Billy Ocean and Take That, according to Hello! magazine.
Touching on his previous experiences in the music industry in an interview with C4, Lee said: ‘I had always been drawn to the music and TV worlds but I hadn’t known the right avenues to get into them.’
He continued: ‘I panicked and did a law conversion course for a year but knew deep down it wasn’t me. I became an unpaid intern at a music company and began to work with great people – like Lulu, Take That and Billy.’
Lee caused consternation among viewers of the show in January 2024, when he appeared shirtless in an episode of spin-off series What Happened Next?
The incident came after Lee met with a couple he had helped find their dream home in Greece in 2021.
Liz and Ian were fortunate to have discovered a villa with a sea view, thanks to Lee’s work.
Returning to the home in 2023, the programme’s host was impressed by the extensive renovations they had made to the property.
After seeing the couple had added an infinity pool, Lee suggested they all went for a plunge, leaving viewers bemused by his antics.
In his voiceover of the incident, the presenter conceded: ‘I may have cheekily invited myself for a dip but I’m so glad they’ve said yes to it’.
Sara Damergi
Sara Damergi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1980, to a Lebanese Muslim father and a British mother
Sara has presented the show across two stints, initially from 2012 to 2015, before returning to viewers’ screens in 2021.
Sara is the owner and founder of casting agency Casting Now, which helps to support ‘new talent breaking into the entertainment industry’.
Sara was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1980, to a Lebanese Muslim father and a British mother.
On Father’s Day 2023, she posted an emotional tribute to her father after revealing the first time she marked the occasion since his passing.
She wrote: ‘Beaut lunch with my fam for Father’s Day so grateful my boys have such a fantastic dad!
‘Not going to pretend all was fabulous all day I did have a few tears for my late dad this morning so sending much love to those struggling today.’
Aside from her work on A Place In The Sun, Sara has presented The Great Big British Quiz, extreme sports show The Crunch, filmed across remote China, as well as undertaking red carpet reporting for MTV.
Scarlette Douglas
Before delving into broadcasting, Scarlette Douglas began life as a footballer, playing for Arsenal’s academy at age group level
Scarlette Douglas has been presenting the show since 2015 and works with her brother in property development.
The siblings even presented an episode of Love it or List it together for Channel 4’s Black to Front initiative.
Scarlette’s father owned the first ever legal urban, soul and R&B radio station in the UK and so she was brought up on music from a very young age.
Before delving into broadcasting, Scarkette began life as a footballer, playing for Arsenal’s academy at age group level.
However, her main hobbies were dancing, singing and acting, all of which she studied professionally for three years from the age of 16.
Scarlette has also danced in feature films, modelled for various fashion designers, hair stylists and labels, sung in girl groups, choreographed shows and performed as a backing dancer for the likes of CeeLo Green and Paloma Faith.
Ben Hillman
Ben, who has appeared on the TV show since 2016, joined the team after experience running his own interior design business
Ben studied Product and Furniture Design at Ravensbourne College where he had early success designing and launching F-LUX lighting, one of the worlds first portable LED lights and prototyping furniture designs with Conran partnership.
To begin his career, Ben completed an internship with michaelsodeau.com before working as Special Projects Manager and then Assistant Interiors Editor for Wallpaper Magazine.
Ben, who has appeared on the TV show since 2016, joined the team after experience running his own interior design business.
He has undertaken his own self build project in the heart of Brighton, renovating a purpose-built block of flats constructed in the 1970sand adding a new penthouse apartment on the existing flat roof.
Ben has also worked for The White Company, where he co-ordinated the brand’s photoshoots and worked on the styling of its website and brochure photography.
Shortly after this he launched a range of colour changing ambient greetings cards and pioneered the trend for laser cut stationery and was Highly Commended as Gift of The Year 2006.
In 2010, Ben went on to win ITV’s nationwide search for ‘The Next Big Thing’ in interior design.
Shortlisted by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Michelle Ogundehin, Ben presented a series of Interior Design features on This Morning, which saw him teach Brits how to adapt and upcycle furniture.
Craig Rowe
Craig Rowe’s property experience came from assisted his parents, several friends and a business colleague in searching for and negotiating over property purchases
Craig Rowe is the newest member of the A Place in the Sun presenting team, having joined the show in 2022.
He is known for previously having fronting shows on QVC, CBBC, Sky Travel, Overseas Property TV and as a ‘gadget guru’ on This Morning.
Craig has also worked as a voice artist on a number of projects, as well as a seven year stint in production for the BBC.
Craig’s property experience came from assisted his parents, several friends and a business colleague in searching for and negotiating over property purchases.
The presenter uncovered a love of travel aged 18, after which he joined holiday company Travelsphere as a Tour Manager, leading groups across Europe.
His globe-trotting exploits mean he is able to speak three foreign languages: French, Spanish and German.
Danni Menzies
Prior to joining A Place In The Sun, Danni presented T-in the Park, London Fashion Week and has interviewed the likes of Rita Ora and Labyrinth
Danni Menzies grew up in the Scottish Highlands, joined the A Place in the Sun presenting team in 2016.
She was involved with her family business from an early age, playing her part in helping a caravan park and old farm buildings set on a 120 acre estate transform into holiday houses, a golf course, riding stables, along with a bar, restaurant and delicatessen.
Prior to joining A Place In The Sun, Danni presented T-in the Park, London Fashion Week and has interviewed the likes of Rita Ora and Labyrinth.
Danni bought her first home, at the age of 21, in Edinburgh but since moved south of the Scottish border to south west London.
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