Yazmin Oukhellou had a secret to share with her followers, and she built it like a pregnancy announcement because that is exactly what she wanted them to think it was. The TOWIE star posted a video teasing something she had been “keeping a secret,” something she had been “working on for a very long time” — “Are you ready to meet my new arrival?” — with a visible bump and talk of “my new baby.” The new arrival was a perfume. The fragrance is called Amara.
Her followers did the math out loud. Tyla collected the reaction — comments calling the stunt “insensitive” and “bloody weird.” Pregnancy is not a mood board, and a fake bump lands differently on anyone who has announced a real one, or lost one, or is still trying. The post came down — the Scottish Sun reported the deletion — and on Monday, November 9, the apology went up on her Instagram Stories.
“I never imagined it would mislead anyone or make light of pregnancy, miscarriage or fertility struggles,” she wrote. “I completely understand why it may have caused upset, and I apologise to anyone who was hurt or offended.” The concept, she explained, was meant to symbolise “growing something special” and “bringing a new creation into the world,” and she said she has “nothing but respect” for women going through fertility journeys.
The defense and the problem are the same sentence. A pregnancy announcement works as a teaser precisely because people respond to it as real — the congratulations, the emotion, all of it borrowed. You cannot borrow the feeling and then act surprised that people felt misled about where it went. It went to a checkout page.
It is worth sitting with the mechanics for a second, because the apology treats the post like a misunderstanding and it was not one. A bump is not a metaphor that sneaks up on you. Somebody chose the outfit, chose the pose, chose the words “new arrival” and “my new baby,” filmed it, edited it, and posted it to an audience that includes — statistically, unavoidably — women in the middle of fertility treatment and women who have buried the announcement they never got to make. The concept only works if those women respond first and ask questions later.
The apology is thorough, and the deletion was fast. But the plan was the plan: a fake bump, filmed and edited and posted on purpose, to sell a fragrance. Amara launches now as the perfume that needed a pregnancy to get your attention — which is a lot of scent to live down.
Sources · 2 sources
- Tyla — “TOWIE’s Yazmin Oukhellou issues apology over fake pregnancy ad” (November 9, 2026): the stunt video, the ‘insensitive’ / ‘bloody weird’ follower reaction, the deletion, and the full apology text.
- The Scottish Sun — “Yazmin Oukhellou apologises for fake pregnancy perfume post” (November 2026): the same stunt, deletion and apology, independently reported.
