Here’s Everything We Know About A Place In The Sun Presenter Phoebe … For anyone who has ever dreamed of trading in grey skies for a villa with a pool, A Place in the Sun presenters have been such familiar faces over the years.
The property show has been on air since 2000, helping potential buyers find a home abroad, and so much of its charm is down to the people fronting each episode. The current cast, from old names to new faces, has a good, solid mix of knowledge of the property world, BBC presenting experience and, let’s be honest, a fair bit of warmth. Here’s a brief guide to who they are.
Who Are the Current A Place in the Sun Presenters?
Presenters: The current team of presenters on the show are Jasmine Harman, Laura Hamilton, Ben Hillman, Jean Johansson, Lee Juggurnauth, Leah Charles-King, and Craig Rowe. In addition to these, there have also been recent mentions of Sara Damergi and Lucy Alexander. Over the years, they have used their experience in real estate, travel, and in front of the camera to give buyers and their families a wide range of things to consider, including budget and lifestyle alterations before they go through with their big move.
Different presenters have different areas of expertise, and a range of different property styles keep the format diverse. Rather than having one host, the programme has a cast of different presenters to keep things varied.
Jasmine Harman
Perhaps the most well-known host is Jasmine Harman. She has been on the show since 2004 and has presented in excess of 200 episodes – second only to the show itself for most appearances. Her down-to-earth personality and style have attracted a lot of viewers, and over the years she has visited Spanish coastal resorts, apartments and housing developments in places many miles away from her hometown. Jasmine has even had her own property-based television show.
Laura Hamilton
Laura Hamilton was part of the early 2010s batch of presenters, and she quickly gathered her own gang of followers. She’d had experience with UK entertainment and lifestyle programmes prior to A Place in the Sun, so came to the show with a lot of on-screen knowledge. And the fact that she has also dabbled in renovation and property investment off-screen is also likely to give her presenting extra weight when guiding potential buyers through the procurement process.
Jean Johansson
In 2018 Jean Johansson joined the team and soon became known for being a professional presenter with a friendly sense of humour. Having already made her mark in British television, she is comfortable and confident when on camera and is always popular as a presenter. Jean is able to keep things interesting even when the chat gets around to the not-so-funny business of finance involved in buying property abroad.
Ben Hillman
Ben Hillman has a slightly different skill set, having made his way into TV through the property renovation and interior design world rather than straight from the TV studio. And he is clearly comfortable showing buyers how to improve homes or maximise renovation opportunities, which is definitely relevant if, instead of a ready-made home, the prospective buyer has their eye on a house project. The design elements tend to draw viewers to his editions.
Lee Juggurnauth and Craig Rowe
Lee Juggurnauth has been a mainstay of the show in recent years, appearing in episodes from places across the spectrum, from Costa Blanca in Spain, the Dordogne in France, and even from several parts of Greece. His episodes include both popular property locations, as well as lesser-explored areas of Europe.
Meanwhile, Craig Rowe has quite the history with the programme. The popular face first appeared as a presenter way back in 2002 and was amongst the first few celebrities linked to the format, and has also been the presenter of the series over the years in Italy, Mallorca and more. His welcome return to the recent series brought a blast from the past to viewers who have been following the format since its early days.
Leah Charles-King
Adding to the current line-up is Leah Charles-King. As is the case with the other presenters, she also has property and television experience to bring to the table. Like some of the other presenters, Leah is also attracted to the property industry for her passion to assist everyday buyers through the process, which can be intimidating and emotional.
What Happened to Jonnie Irwin?
He’ll be one of the most well-loved A Place in the Sun presenters of the past 20 years. Jonnie joined the programme in 2004, and worked with Jasmine Harman – making over 200 episodes with his co-star. He also went on to front various other property programmes.
He revealed to viewers in November 2022 that he’d been living with terminal lung cancer – which initially started in his lungs but spread to his brain – from 2020. In the few years he had remaining, he talked honestly about what he was going through, hoping that sharing his story would inspire others in the same situation to live each day to the fullest. Irwin died at the age of 50 in February 2024 – with his wife Jessica announcing the heartbreaking news.
Other broadcasters who paid tribute to the presenter include Jasmine Harman, who described him as her “OG co-presenter” and a friend for “many years” since she started on TV. He is survived by his wife and three sons. His presence is still missed on the programme, with some viewers who have been watching since the show first started referring to his relaxed presenting style as one of the reasons for some classic episodes.
Why the Presenters Matter to the Show’s Success
A Place in the Sun might just be a regular property listings show if it weren’t for its presenters. They’re the ones explaining currency rates, legal jargon, and weird new markets to normal punters and making something that can be a high-pressure, high-stakes, and highly emotional experience into something people want to watch all the time.
In the process, they also humanise the entire process by giving us a chance to see ourselves living the lifestyles on screen rather than just watching the back of a hiring agent. The presenters from the show also regularly attend live exhibitions in cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Dublin where members of the public can go along and see the presenters face to face alongside foreign currency specialists and agents.
Final Thoughts
A Place in the Sun presenters – including the likes of Jasmine Harman, Laura Hamilton, Ben Hillman, Jean Johansson, Lee Juggurnauth, Leah Charles-King and Craig Rowe, to name a few – continue a tradition that has been going since the show’s launch, with all presenters bringing something to the table, be it property expertise, experience of working in broadcasting or even just love of property in a new part of the world.
The line-up has evolved considerably throughout the years, with Jonnie Irwin’s recent passing notably being one of the most defining moments in A Place in the Sun’s history, as both viewers and colleagues remember the presenter warmly. Old and new alike have made the programme one of the longest-running and most trusted British property formats on TV.
