A prominent British mumfluencer with millions of followers has confessed to fabricating a cancer diagnosis in one of the most disturbing social media deception cases to emerge this year.
The elaborate deception unravels
Brittany Miller, a 29-year-old mother of twin boys from Oxfordshire, built a massive online following through her polished outfit videos, parenting tips and budget fashion content. Behind this carefully curated persona, however, lay a dark secret that finally came to light this week.
The influencer tearfully admitted in an apology video that she had faked stage three gastric cancer back in 2017, deceiving friends, family and followers while benefiting from fundraising efforts for treatment she never needed.
How the scam operated for years
Back in 2017, when Miller was a 21-year-old aspiring influencer with a small following living in Bicester, Oxfordshire, she suddenly announced she had been diagnosed with stage three gastric cancer. Friends quickly rallied around her, creating crowdfunding pages and offering financial support.
However, the cancer story mysteriously vanished shortly after appearing, with all traces seemingly erased from the internet. The diagnosis was never mentioned again until 2020, when Miller partnered with a breast cancer awareness charity, prompting her former best friend to come forward with allegations the entire illness had been fabricated.
A source from Miller's hometown revealed to The Mirror how she managed to maintain the deception for so long. "She has a filter on her comments so any words relating to the story never appear," the source explained, adding that Miller actively deleted any comments that made it through the filter and blocked the users responsible.
Victims speak out about betrayal
Miller's former best friend, Beth, provided detailed accounts of the manipulation she endured during their friendship from ages 16 to 21. "Brittany lied about some really awful things," Beth wrote online, describing how she had researched treatments, created care hampers, cooked meals and even transferred money for supposed radiotherapy appointments.
Beth revealed that Miller would become nasty if she spent time with family instead of her, and fabricated scenarios including claiming her tumour had shrunk after three months of radiotherapy. Most disturbingly, Miller allegedly set up a GoFundMe page and asked Beth to send it to all their former colleagues to solicit donations.
The apology and aftermath
In her emotional video address, Miller claimed she had been suffering from "extremely bad mental health" in 2017, describing herself as "depressed and suicidal, lost and confused" after losing her partner and job. She insisted the deception began with "one stupid sentence that I deeply regret" told to a friend in confidence.
Despite admitting to the lies, Miller maintained she didn't act with "malicious intent or to scam people" but rather to keep people close to her during a difficult time. She claimed friends set up the fundraising page without her knowledge and she had it taken down immediately when she saw donations had been made.
Remarkably, despite the confession, Miller has retained her substantial social media presence, boasting 3.5 million TikTok followers and maintaining brand deals with major fast fashion labels including Shein.
Following her apology video, Miller posted new content showing her giggling with her twin babies at home, captioning it "My happy place" with a heart emoji. When a fan commented supporting her against "haters," Miller responded that criticism "makes them feel better about themselves... bless them!"
The case has raised serious questions about accountability in the influencer industry and the lengths some will go to maintain their online personas, while leaving many wondering how such a significant deception could remain hidden for nearly a decade.
