UK influencer Zara McDermott’s secret holiday exposed by Instagram picture

As Britain faces tough restrictions to battle spiralling COVID-19 cases one influencer’s careful attempt to hide a secret from her fans has been exposed.

A UK influencer has been slammed after she was caught out editing photos to hide the backdrop of her Maldives break.

Zara McDermott, a former Love Island UK contestant turned Instagram star, broke England’s tier 4 restrictions which ban overseas travel to take a secret trip to the Maldives with her boyfriend, Sam Thompson.

In one of Zara’s latest pics she cropped out the tropical backdrop of her holiday for an Instagram post promoting her new gymwear line.

But embarrassingly for the 24-year-old, Missguided‘s official Instagram posted the original image clearly showing her location.

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The photo that Zara posted. Picture: Instagram.

Her boyfriend Sam, who stars on Made In Chelsea, can also be seen in the unedited shot.

In the non-edited selfie, Zara is seen modelling a sports bra from her new collaboration while the mirror reflection behind her shows Sam working out in their luxury Maldives resort‘s gym.

She captioned the initial post on her page: “My edit with @missguided is HERE!!!! I hope you guys love it as much as I do!”

“So today we are dropping the first few styles, and over the next few days we will be adding lots and lots of extras to keep your eyes peeled.”

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The one that Missguided posted, exposing where she really was.

But when Missguided posted the unedited photo on their account showing her breaking the UK’s travel ban shoppers were up in arms.

“Forgot to edit the picture? Unforgivable that someone would break Tier 4 travel rules and fly off to the Maldives,” one Instagram user commented.

A second penned: “This is taken in the gym at AyClub in the Ayada hotel in the Maldives where she went for holiday while in Tier 4 lockdown.

“Surprised this is being used as a promotional picture when she broke the law.”

Shoppers have vowed not to buy her activewear line as a result of her holiday.

“Not supporting anyone who has skipped off on holiday whilst we are in a lockdown and at the worst stage of the pandemic,” another wrote.

A follower penned: “We don’t support people who break lockdown rules.”

It’s not the first time Zara has flouted lockdown rules, with the reality star and her boyfriend spotted flying out of London on December 27, despite Tier 4 lockdown rules.

There are strict travel bans in place because of a new coronavirus strain spreading throughout Britain which is thought to be 70 per cent more contagious than other versions of the illness.

Zara and boyfriend Sam were spotted flying out of London on December 27. Picture: Instagram.

Zara tried to throw fans off the scent by sharing photos on her Instagram and tagging her location as London.

Fans have now accused the pair of trying to cover up the fact they were abroad by altering timestamps and sharing prerecorded pics.

A source told MailOnline Zara and Sam were staying at luxury resort Ayada Maldives, where they previously visited in December 2019.
While Zara has been tagging her social media content within the UK, Sam has refrained from posting since flying out of the country.

This story first appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission.