Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver has said she felt “physically sick” to have her image used in weight loss scam advertisements.

Last year, doctored videos started popping up to claim that Sue used keto gummies to lose weight, yet these campaigns were unauthorised by the actor.

Sue posted an Instagram video at the time to explain that her weight loss was due to giving up alcohol, competing on I’m a Celebrity in the Jungle, and experiencing a women’s health issue. She had never used the product in the fake ads.

The actor, who plays Eileen Grimshaw on Coronation Street, appeared on Loose Women on Friday (June 14) to discuss the concerns around AI-created scam adverts.

“It’s mortifying,” she explained. “The amount of messages I’ve had on Instagram saying [they’ve] spent over £100 on these items based on that [scam].

“All I can do is apologise. I have put things out on social media, as me, saying ‘It’s not me [in the video].’ If it’s not off my official site with a tick, I can guarantee it’s not going to be me.”

Sue was particularly troubled because there’s no definitive legal mechanism in place in the UK to protect the image rights of celebrities (or anyone), because AI is still an emerging field.

“It actually makes me feel physically sick when I see it,” she said. “My heart sinks when I get a message… I think, oh not again! That’s all they do is close it down and then open up another one.”

After Emmerdale star Lisa Riley was used in a similar scam, ITV released a statement this week to warn fans about fake social media accounts for soap cast members.

An ITV statement said: “Please be mindful that the Coronation Street and Emmerdale actors are often impersonated on social media platforms by scammers who set up fake accounts on platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram.

“As producers of both programmes, we feel we should warn viewers that this is happening, and noticeably more frequently of late.

“Please take great care when conversing on social media and be vigilant about these fake accounts by reporting them to the appropriate platform