Laura Hamilton of Channel 4's A Place In The Sun opens up about her battle with rare disease ITP

She has been battling a rare disease for years - with some fans not even realising

A Place In The Sun's Laura Hamilton has been candid about her struggle with a rare blood condition. The 42 year-old presenter continues to tackle immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), which is characterised by excessive bruising and bleeding due to a low platelet count.

Although it's a significant challenge, many fans of the travel programme may not realise their favourite host copes with ITP. This disorder is associated with easy or severe bruising and bleeding risk.

Hamilton, who has graced the hit series since 2012, is also venturing into new territory with her podcast 'Mile Fly Club'. While engaging with the Daily Star for an exclusive Facebook Live chat, she opened up about her current health status.

Talking about her condition, Laura shared: "I have something called ITP, Immune thrombocytopenia, which is low platelets count in my blood its quite an unknown disease."

She elucidated on how the disease affects her, saying: "It sort of flares ups and downs depending on what's going on with my life and stress often brings it out," reports Coventry Live.

The star recalled a revealing moment while filming abroad: "It was really mad a year ago I was filming A Place In The Sun with a lovely couple in France - Mark and Janine - and I just stood there and I had an insect bite on my leg and I started scratching it."

"I was like 'oh I shouldn't have done that because I'm gonna have bruises on my leg from ITP"

Unexpectedly, it became a point of connection: "Mark stopped and was like 'how do you know what ITP is?"

She then highlighted how her experience resonated with someone else's personal tragedy: "And he told me that really sadly his sister had died from ITP and he said it was really good how I was trying to raise awareness of it."

"It's one of them times where you think they could have been paired with anybody as a presenter and nobody knew about the ITP link so it was just like 'wow'."

The presenter added: "But that's kind of under control at the moment I don't have bruising quite like that on my legs but it does happen it does flare up but I'm always trying to be positive about things and be a glass half-full."

A Place In The Sun's Laura Hamilton and Jean Johansson have shared their personal health struggles, with Laura revealing her unexpected connection with a rare condition known as ITP. She expressed her surprise, saying: "It's one of them times where you think they could have been paired with anybody as a presenter and nobody knew about the ITP link so it was just like 'wow'."

Laura also discussed managing her condition: "But that's kind of under control at the moment I don't have bruising quite like that on my legs but it does happen it does flare up but I'm always trying to be positive about things and be a glass half-full."

Meanwhile, co-presenter Jean Johansson has opened up about her diagnosis with presbyopia, a common issue leading to difficulty focusing on close objects as one ages. After ignoring her declining eyesight for some time, at 42, Jean confronted the truth following an eye test.

She shared how addressing her vision problems has made a significant difference, stating: "I can honestly say it's been life-changing."

Jean admitted to delaying the inevitable, saying: "I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to admit I needed glasses," suggesting it might have been due to an aversion to accepting signs of aging. Now, she accepts it as a natural part of life.