Oxfordshire TikTok creator ‘so sorry’ over cancer diagnosis lie
A TikTok influencer has been forced to apologize, after admitting she previously lied about her cancer diagnosis.
Brittany Miller, originally from Oxfordshire, is known for posting food and lifestyle content to her three and a half million followers on the platform.
But the 29-year-old recently came under fire on the app, after a document appearing to show a fundraising page claiming she had been diagnosed with gastric cancer went viral.
In a video posted on social media on Monday, Ms Miller admitted lying about the diagnosis and said it came from “a stupid phrase that I deeply regret”.
“I said something in confidence to someone in my immediate circle. I said I had an illness, which was cancer,” she said in an emotional message.
“I didn’t do this with malicious intent or to scam people, I did it out of desperation, I did it to keep the people in my life close to me.”
The mother-of-two said the incident happened in 2017 when she had “extremely poor mental health”.
“At the time I didn’t realize how serious it was, but it was serious,” she said.
“I was depressed, I was suicidal, I was lost, I was confused – I lost my partner, I lost my job and there were a lot of things that year that led to me suffering from mental illness.”
Ms Miller stressed that the fabrication was not “a long-running scam or manipulative story as is being claimed”.
She said the fundraising page in question was set up in her name by a friend.
“As soon as I saw that there were donations, I immediately closed the page and I didn’t withdraw a cent,” she explained.
“I’ve grown from that; I strive to be the best version of myself.
“I know how horrible this disease is, and I know how much it affects people, so I’m really sorry.”
Since the 2017 incident, Ms Miller’s online content on parenting, home cooking and online shopping has generated a large following on social media.
Thames Valley Police said they could not confirm widely reported reports that Ms Miller was convicted of fraud by false representation in July 2020, but police added that an investigation into the incident had been completed.
The BBC has contacted Ms Miller, to which she has not yet responded.
