Lauren posted a snap of a woman wearing a black thong with her hair cascading down her back with the caption: ‘Nightmare wife.’
Savvy Instagram users then pointed out that Lauren had re-grammed the snap (without noting it) from American model Carmen Ortega.
Put side by side, it was obvious that the image had been doctored, with Lauren’s version having slightly wider hips.
Carmen later spoke out against Lauren, saying: ‘I feel violated. I honestly feel sad that she would be so desperate to do such a thing.’
The model continued: ‘For someone to steal, alter and imposter is absolutely not OK. Obviously she has been stalking my profile and is obsessed with mine. Sadly for her, it backfired.’
Lauren took to her weekly magazine column to set the record straight.
‘Firstly, I admitted last week that a friend sent me the picture, saying, “This girl really looks like you.” And when I posted the snap I never made out it was me.’
‘I have no idea who this Carmen girl is and I even private messaged her to explain the situation.’
‘The pic I posted had been digitally altered from Carmen’s original to make the waist wider but I had nothing to do with it.’
Lauren maintains that she didn’t know who Carmen was until a friend sent her the snap.
The reality star swiped back: ‘She certainly seems to be loving all the attention she’s getting from this!’