This Morning star hits back at ‘disgraceful’ fake weight loss pill claims

This Morning star Ashley James has responded after AI was used to create a disturbing advert with her likeness, promoting weight loss pills.

Ashley has been left ‘devastated’ at the thought of anyone buying such pills upon her so-called recommendation, branding the fake ad a ‘violation’.

Taking to Instagram this weekend, the presenter and activist began in a video: ‘I have a confession. I’ve been taking weight loss pills.

‘At least, that’s what you’ve been led to believe…’

Footage then cuts to a digitally generated version of Ashley being interviewed on the This Morning sofa by Ben Shephard, where she appears to reveal her weight loss results and the benefits of taking such drugs.

It’s incredibly realistic, featuring the This Morning colour scheme, ITV logo, and an AI character that both looks and sounds exactly like her.

‘I’ve tried everything. Seriously, everything. Each new diet was hopeful and disappointing,’ begins her AI persona.

‘I thought I should just give up, but then I saw an interview with Doctor Rangan Chatterjee, where he explained being overweight is not your fault – it’s a metabolic failure caused by age, and he’s developed a formula that restarts that metabolism, so I decided to try it.’

As text on-screen boldly states, ‘She lost 27 pounds in just one month!’, the character adds: ‘One week later, I was down nine pounds. Three weeks later, I’m down 27.

‘I feel light again. I love my reflection in the mirror again.’

In her own expert takedown of the clip, the real Ashley then informs her followers: ‘So many of you have sent me this advert, so I just want to be really clear – that is not me. It is completely AI-generated.’

‘Not only did I never say this, I’ve never taken these pills, I’ve never heard of these pills, and most importantly, nor would I ever promote them,’ she insists.

‘I’m honestly devastated that anybody might buy these products believing that I recommended them.’

The former Made in Chelsea star, who is known and loved for her body-positive content on social media, added that she ‘always turns down’ any sponsorship opportunities involving diets or weight loss pills.

‘So not only does this feel like a total violation, but the message behind it makes me incredibly angry.

‘We already live in a world where women are constantly told to shrink themselves, be smaller, be thinner, take up less space. And that’s only getting worse with the rise of weight loss injections.’

Continuing her rant in the caption, Ashley admitted that, ‘if [she] didn’t know better,’ she would assume the AI ad was real too.

‘Someone has taken my face and my voice and turned it into an advert telling women they should lose weight. If you know anything about me, you’ll know that is the exact kind of messaging I’ve spent years fighting against.’

She further cited other examples of public figures being targeted by deepfakes, with Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis forced to call out similar content in the past after members of the public were scammed out of thousands of pounds from following bogus financial advice.

‘I do not support these products and I would never tell you, or anyone else, that you need to shrink yourself or diet,’ Ashley concluded in her written caption. ‘And if you see this advert please report it. Because how social media platforms are allowing this is disgraceful! It’s scary when you think about it.’

In the comments, famous friends were eager to offer their support, expressing shock over the advert.

‘This is absolutely shocking’, wrote Carol Vorderman. ‘What is the recourse in law?’

Sarah Jayne Dunn commented: ‘😮 this is so scary!!’

‘This is terrifying!!!’, echoed Dani Harmer, while Faye Tozer raged: ‘Nothing about this is ok 🤬’

Ashley has long been a public advocate for body acceptance, particularly when it comes to motherhood.

In a post discussing the harmful rhetoric surrounding postpartum bodies, Ashley wrote in January: ‘The world looks at a mum’s body and sees something to fix, but our children look at it as their first home and love it.’

She proudly stated that, ‘babies or not, we should never have learned to hate something so magical. Our bodies ARE magical.’

The mum-of-two also often posts bikini snaps from various angles to encourage other people to feel confident.

Earlier this year, she wrote: ‘I have more confidence in my body now than I ever did before. And I’m proud of that, and I never want my daughter to see me hating on my body.’

The TV personality recently published her first book, titled Bimbo in a nod to the labels she’s been given online and in an attempt to reclaim them.

It became a bestseller, detailing her own raw experiences and unpacking the oppression and expectations of women throughout their lives.

While promoting it, she told BBC Woman’s Hour: ‘Often, if people don’t agree with me, they’ll go online and say, “She’s just a bimbo.”

‘But it’s not just “bimbo,” it’s all the labels that I feel like women are given, whether that’s “bossy,” “frigid,” “tarty,” and even into elderhood, like “crone” or “hag.” I really wanted to explore how these labels shrink us and keep us small.’

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