"Why I Cherish My Career Time Away from My Kids – Laura Hamilton Shares Her Secrets to Balancing Both"

SHE has been helping ­couples find A Place In The Sun for the past 13 years.

But presenter admits that she does not regret spending time away from her two children to film — saying she could never give up her career.

A Place in the Sun’s Laura Hamilton juggles her career with being a busy mum Laura has been presenting the Channel 4 show for 13 years Laura is mum to Rocco, 11, and ten-year-old Tahlia

Laura revealed: “I have every respect for anyone who’s a full-time mum — I just couldn’t do that.

“I just love my career as well as being a mum and I’ve managed to find a way to make it work, even though it is chaotic sometimes.”

Laura, 43, has son Rocco, 11, and ten-year-old daughter Tahlia with her ex-husband, insurance broker .

Since January last year, she is believed to have been dating married CEO , who was said to be .

Laura said: “I co-parent Rocco and Tahlia with their dad.

“I try to manage it so that they spend a week with their dad, then a week with me.

“The weeks that they are with their dad is when I tend to focus more on my filming and so I am less stressed about getting back home in time for dinner or bedtimes.

“I’m incredibly lucky that over the years, I have had a supportive employer who has allowed me to travel with my children.

“That has allowed me to be a mum and have my career. Is it a juggle? One hundred per cent.”

Laura added: “For my daughter Tahlia, I really want her to be inspired and see that as well.

“You can’t always be the best at everything when you’re trying to do everything.

“Sometimes, I feel like if I’m ­focusing more on my children, then I’m dropping the ball on my career — it’s just a balancing act.

“But that’s not to say that you can’t have your fingers in different pies and try to be doing this and doing that at the same time.

“I want Tahlia to see that if she wants her career, she can have her career.

Why should it be that it’s only women who have to sacrifice their careers?

Laura Hamilton

“If she wanted to have children, she could, and equally for Rocco — it shouldn’t just be a thing for women to worry about.

“Men are parents, too.

“Why should it be that it’s only women who have to sacrifice their careers?

“I know men who are stay-at-home dads and have to support their wives more in that way.

“We focus on women being the ones that are juggling, but there are guys out there who are doing it, too.”

Laura said that during her solo trips abroad, she has been trolled while ­posting to her 234,000 followers on .

She explained: “It’s like, ‘Oh, well, she’s always away. She’s not with her kids’. People have no idea.

“One: I don’t even share my always in real time, and two: just because I don’t always post everything that I’m doing with my kids doesn’t mean I’m not with them.

Laura often gets trolled online for her social media posts

“People just make judgments about the things that they see online.

“I’m just enjoying the time with my children at the moment because this massage therapist came to the house and she said, ‘I’m warning you now — your little girl is lovely, but she is ten years old.

“Wait until she hits 13 and it is going to be a nightmare’.

“I am like, ‘I know that because I was as well!’.”

Laura, who grew up in Dartford, , turned down an offer to study law and psychology at university to accept a one-year contract from as a runner for presenter .

After working behind the camera for four years on shows including Top Of The Pops and , Laura got her break in CITV’s Fun Song Factory.

Following years between jobs, she made her debut as a presenter on A Place In The Sun in 2012.

The show sees British ­couples attempting to find their dream home abroad in destinations including the , and the .

Spain’s is another popular backdrop.

Some househunters put in a “cheeky offer” on a property, but are unlikely to be serious about purchasing.

‘FREE HOLIDAY’

that couples are just using the show as a “free holiday”.

But it has become a daytime TV staple, and Laura said she is still honoured to be part of the series, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in September.

She explained: “It is a really wonderful show to be part of and I’m so happy that I’m still with the team.”

Meanwhile, Laura has joined forces with I Love Wallpaper to release a collection inspired by her trips abroad.

She said: “I’ve been part of the show for 13 years and my collection of wallpapers have really been quite inspired from my travels, particularly some of the high-end luxury homes I get to go to.”

But Laura revealed that it is not all sandy beaches and blue skies while shooting the series.

She said: “There have been episodes where the weather has taken a turn for the worse and we have all been stuck in mud and had to be pulled out by tractors on location.

“You don’t expect that when the show is called A Place In The Sun.

“One lady wanted to buy a property off the beaten track — then the heavens opened and the beaten track became a mud swamp and we all got stuck there.

“She felt so bad, but we were all like, ‘Look, it’s not your fault.

“‘This is what can happen and it’s great, actually, that you’re seeing this happen because it makes you realise this isn’t what you want’.

“We film in all kinds of weather, but that was quite an experience.”

Laura has joined forces with I Love Wallpaper to release a collection inspired by her trips abroad Laura is co-parenting with her ex-husband Alex Goward Laura presenting A Place in the Sun

Laura also admitted she has learned to take the ups and downs of filming in her stride.

She said: “We’ve had funny situations as well, and not so funny, when you’re locked out of houses and the keys are stuck inside.

“Then you can’t get in and it’s like, ‘Oh God’. But that’s life, right?

“That happens and it’s like, ‘Well, we’ll ­figure it out’. We manage to get keys and get in.”

Meanwhile, Laura recently who claimed she was “too old” to wear a bikini.

Asked if she is more body confident now than ever, she said: “I think I care less now what people think — as long as you’re happy and healthy.

“I look at so many fabulous women online — I look at and and I’m like, ‘They look insane’.

“They are such great role models. They are healthy, fit and look fab — I don’t see why people have to be negative.”

Laura revealed she was always encouraged to by her parents — and hopes she now inspires her own kids to do the same.

‘I DO IT FOR ME’

She said: “I’ve always been incredibly sporty and active.

“My mum and dad were always encouraging hobbies because they were like, ‘Well, we want them to be doing stuff and not just hanging around’.

“I guess the equivalent of that now is that I want my kids to be doing stuff — not just sitting on social media or on their phones.”

However, she admitted: “I am a busy mum — there are times when I don’t get to do as much fitness as I want to or I might not be eating as healthily as I should be or I have a few too many glasses of wine.

“Whenever I feel like I need to do something about it, I do it for me — and not for anybody else.

“I think that is really important.”