British celebrities including Vicky Pattison, Charlotte Dawson and Jack Fincham are promoting multi-level marketing schemes to their social media followers, mostly through travel booking businesses that promise fans they can become their own boss with flexible hours and extra income.
MLM stands for multi-level marketing, a business model in which independent distributors sell products directly to consumers and recruit others to do the same. The person who recruits a distributor is called their upline, while the person they recruit is their downline, and participants are paid a higher percentage of sales profits for every rung of the ladder they climb.
Love Island's Yasmin Hadlow recently received backlash over her 'travel' job after she bragged about being one of the 'top income earners' in her rank.
The direct selling industry is worth an estimated £1.3 trillion a year and is particularly popular with women, many of whom are stay-at-home mothers. The Direct Selling Association estimates roughly 400,000 people in the UK are currently involved in direct selling in some way.
Are MLMs pyramid schemes?
MLMs are not illegal, although some have been likened to pyramid schemes. Research shows that roughly 99 percent of participants in MLMs make little to no profit or end up in a net financial loss. Gerard Brody, chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, said people at the bottom of the structure are simply ripped off, calling it 'bad taste capitalism'.
Instead of selling products door-to-door, celebrities are paid corporate marketing fees to act as the public face of an MLM brand. Companies pay these endorsement fees because a single post from a major star can instantly spike brand awareness and product trial, landing a star a payday of anything from a few thousand pounds to upwards of one million pounds.
Vicky Pattison
Vicky Pattison is involved with travel booking companies InteleTravel and PlanNet Marketing. The former Geordie Shore star posts images of luxury hotels and poolside sundowners, promising holiday discounts and encouraging fans to 'turn your passion for travel into an income', adding: 'You too can join our Jet set team of girls & start earning extra.'
Thanks to her large social media following, Pattison has reportedly reached 'Two Star Director' status, meaning potential earnings of £317,000 a year. She reportedly recruits around 19,000 women a year, largely through social media. InteleTravel charges an upfront sign-up fee of £142 followed by a monthly membership fee of £32, though income disclosure data indicates a vast majority of participants make little to no profit or lose money after paying the monthly fees.
Charlotte Dawson
Charlotte Dawson is also part of InteleTravel and runs her own affiliate model called The Glow Collective. She joined the travel agency last year, claiming fans can 'earn from your sunlounger', and quickly climbed the ranks to become a 'One-Star Director', a status that can bring in anything from £1,000 to £12,000 a year.
Dawson wrote in a social media post that she and her team had officially helped more than 100 people generate an income from the travel business, and said every person involved could earn up to eight extra pay days a month. She added that she had built an income she could leave to her three children, and urged interested followers not to wait, saying she wished she had started sooner than the four years it took her.
Jack Fincham
Jack Fincham joined a travel MLM scheme in 2024, creating an Instagram page where he told fans they could 'earn a residual income through the most lucrative industry in the world... TRAVEL.' The Love Island star faced criticism for promoting the scheme, as a vast majority of lower-tier participants lose money while those at the top benefit from recruiting fees.
By 2026 Fincham was no longer associated with the network marketing business, following severe personal and financial difficulties. He revealed he had lost everything and squandered millions due to heavy gambling, alcohol and drug addictions, at one point saying he had just £20 left to his name.
Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd promotes the multi-level home-working travel business The Travel Smart Group. When she joined, InteleTravel said it was 'delighted' that Lloyd had chosen to join the scheme and use her influence to drive sales.
She created a separate social media page, @travelsmarterwithmissdlloyd, which has nearly ten thousand followers, where she has posted pictures from Ibiza in Spain, Ko Tao in Thailand, and Dubai in the UAE. Lloyd told followers the business lets people earn around their other commitments with no targets and no contracts. She holds the rank of '2 Star Director', meaning she has more than 300 people in her downline.
Jess Wright
Jess Wright promotes a travel MLM scheme linked to InteleTravel and recruitment partner PlanNet Marketing, and created a new Instagram account, @jesswrightlifestyle, which has 15,000 followers. In her first month on the programme she signed up 26 people who each paid £156 to join, generating £4,056 for PlanNet Marketing and £1,000 for Wright. She is now said to be earning over £200,000 as fans sign up to the scheme.
Wright wrote in a pinned Instagram post that most of her Jet Set travel team started without years of travel experience, a huge following or thousands in the bank, and said the business is 'about freedom, community & creating choices, not chasing myths.'
Yasmin Hadlow
During the latest season of Love Island, islander Yasmin Hadlow bragged about how much money she makes. She works as an independent travel agent helping women earn money while they travel, describing herself as an 'online business coach' for a company called Let's Grow, which says it 'helps ordinary people live extraordinary lives'.
The company states that commission on travel bookings is 'already built into the prices you see', and that joining lets people 'keep that commission for yourself' through their own travel platform. It says members become a fully qualified, ABTA and ATOL-protected travel agent with their own booking system, a personalised website and access to more than 100 trusted suppliers.
