Laura Armstrong

In June 2021, I was given a tip by a contact that I'm A Celebrity winner Giovanna Fletcher - who together with husband Tom is worth £8million - had claimed furlough money from the Government. I was able to stand up this story and establish that the sum borrowed could have been as much as £30,000. This story sparked a massive backlash against Giovanna, who months later admitted "a huge error in judgement", and revealed she had repaid the entire sum.

In September 2021, I was able to expose a sinister stalking plot on EastEnders star Danny Dyer's daughter, Love Island winner Dani. I was made aware of this when I was contacted by a tipster who wished to pass on information about Dani - one of Britain's best known reality stars after she won the ITV2 show in 2018 - and her love life. However, when I pressed the tipster on how he had come by this information, he hung up. Soon after our exchange, I received a call from Dani's ex boyfriend, Sammy Kimmence, who was then in prison for fraud. During a lengthy conversation, I persuaded him to admit that he had tasked a friend with watching Dani. I immediately contacted her representatives to make them aware of this situation. They were grateful for the information, and were able to take security measures to make her feel safer. As a result, she agreed to contribute to our front page story. In November 2021, I was able to expose a row that had erupted behind the scenes on Emmerdale during the ITV soap’s biggest week of filming last year. This investigation began when I was given a tip from a long running contact that two stars - Isabel Hodgins and Matthew Wolfenden - had been suspended after an explosive argument on set. After an initial front page story revealing this was published, I contacted further sources who told me that during the row Matthew and Isabel had allegedly targeted a fellow cast member in a racist attack. In spite of the sensitivity of this topic, I was able to write a second front page story, which was also followed widely. Following these two stories, both Matthew and Isabel were subject to rigorous questioning by senior ITV bosses. A third star who had reported the issue internally - Aaron Anthony - subsequently quit the show, as I also revealed in a later story. This investigation shone a spotlight on the conduct of ITV bosses just a year after they committed to accelerating their diversity strategy, and publicly pledged to introduce mandatory training on racism for talent.