Jasmine Harman has been the presenter of UK property show A Place In The Sun since 2004, but it hasn’t all been plain sailing.

Harman has been a vegetarian all of her life and vegan for 13 years – most of her time on the show.

A Place In The Sun follows prospective overseas property buyers in their search for a home in a new country, and the journey has thrown up some tricky situations for the presenter.

Harman told The Express she has even refused to film in certain locations due to her veganism – and hasn’t been shy in voicing her opinion.

One show involved a couple searching Portugal for their ideal home, and the presenter was due to film in a restaurant which served a speciality of ‘succulent pig’.

She explained her reaction to the UK newspaper: “I had just given birth and had just gone back to work with my newborn son and I was breast feeding.

“I said to the director, ‘Are you actually asking me to promote a place that kills babies when they’re still breastfeeding from their mothers and eats them when I’ve got a baby myself?’

“I was like, ‘Are you absolutely insane? There is no way that I am going to do that’.”

Though she’s been vegan for over a decade, Harman admits she was ignorant to the horrors of the dairy industry for much of her life.

Earlier episodes of the show even pictured her milking a cow.

“At the time I was vegetarian, I didn’t even realise that there was any problem with the dairy industry,” she told the Express.

“I was ignorant. I didn’t have a moral objection and [the] moral awareness to know.

“Sometimes it’s tricky because if that’s sort of our only place in the area or the only highlight, it makes it difficult.

“But we’ve always managed to work around it and find something else to talk about which I feel comfortable with.”

A Place In The Sun can be viewed on Channel 4 at 3pm on weekdays.

• Read: Fearne Cotton leads campaign urging meat eaters to go vegan for 24 hours

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Oli Gross

Oli’s career and personal ethical values both help shape his reporting of the diverse world of veganism. His background is in local newspaper and magazine journalism, and his work has included reporting court cases, celebrity interviews, business analysis, food and drink features and government legislation.

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