JASMINE: MY MUM MAKES ME PROUD

FOR the A Place in the Sun presenter, confronting her mother’s extreme habit wasn’t easy. She tells GABRIELLE FAGAN why now, six years on, she’s closer to her than ever before...

DESPITE having no TV experience, glamorous Jasmine Harman beat hundreds of applicants to a job presenting Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun in 2004.

Since then, she’s travelled the world, helping Brits to relocate abroad or buy holiday homes in exotic locations.

In 2011, she made headlines after she allowed the spotlight to shine on her own life, when she presented BBC documentary, My Hoarder Mum And Me.

The deeply personal programme movingly revealed the damaging effect her mother’s hoarding disorder had on family life while she was growing up.

Now 42, Jasmine has two children, Joy, 4, and Albion, 2, and is married to cameraman Jon Boast. Here, the Londoner reveals how she came to terms with her mother’s illness, her struggle to have children and why going vegan has made her feel better than ever. “I used to be a fitness instructor when I was younger, but now I’m not particularly fit, because I prioritise being with the kids over going to the gym.

“Luckily, my dietary choice of not eating animal products has definitely made a difference to the amount of energy I have. Although I’ve been vegetarian since childhood, I became vegan four years ago and since then, I’ve felt fabulous.

“My skin, hair and nails, all those telltale signs of ageing, aren’t a problem for me, because I think our bodies are more able to process and gain nutrients from plant-based food.

Actually, my biggest problem over the last few years with two small children has been lack of sleep!

“I like to think I’m a positive, genuine person. Frankly, you can’t have any airs and graces when you come from the East End of London and quite a deprived background.” You