All this came to light in late 2007, and by New Year, the Food Network had announced that they would not be renewing the contract of the chef, but would continue to show re-runs and the new series which had already been filmed.

2. Gillian McKeith – Celebrity Dietician

Gillian McKeith had a wildly popular television show in which she forced overweight people to reassess their lifestyles and diet. She also has a multi-million pound selection of health products and books, but after an expose by various websites, and a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, she is no longer allowed to call herself "Doctor" on any of her promotional materials, thanks to obtaining the doctorate via a correspondence course from a non-accredited American college, according to The Guardian’s Bad Science section.

1. Claire Verity – Celebrity Nanny

The celebrity nanny on ‘Bringing up Baby’ – Channel 4’s childcare programme was found to have methods 100 years out of date, no children of her own and a series of fake qualifications, following an investigation by The Times. Her controversial childcare tips included leaving babies to cry, limiting cuddling time to 10 minutes a day, and leaving babies outside to air – advice the NSPCC have stated is "outdated and potentially harmful." Her advice that babies sleep alone in separate rooms is also said to contradict guidance on preventing cot death.

With this advice dismissed as damaging from so many sources, it’s no surprise to learn that the professional bodies she claimed to have obtained qualifications from were keen to wash their hands of her. ASET, where she claimed to have diplomas in child daycare and preschool practice said there was no trace of her in their database, Goal who supposedly provided her diploma in childcare denied any knowledge of her and her agent admitted she had not taken the postnatal depression or care of multiple baby qualifications that Channel 4 had said she had. Maternity Nurse Training – where she claimed to have certificates in maternity practice, sleep training and paediatrics stated she was never enrolled with them, and went as far as to comment that they "do not in any way endorse the methods employed by Ms Verity in her work."

After asking her to prove her qualifications, and none forthcoming 12 weeks after the claims were made, Channel 4 announced it assumed Verity had lied on her CV and would no longer be working with her, but claimed that only one series of the show was ever planned anyway.

So for God’s sake if you insist on using fake qualifications, just make sure you don’t get famous! Lying on your CV will always catch up with you, even if the initial qualification checks are lax, whether you’re looking for travel recruitment or if you’re a world famous TV personality…

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