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The Apprentice star Luisa Zissman claims she’s in her ‘refugee era’ after leaving Dubai

· 5 min read

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A star from The Apprentice, Luisa Zissman, told followers she was in her ‘refugee era’ after leaving her Dubai home to come back to the UK.

The 38-year-old influencer filmed herself walking through the streets of Chinatown in London and explained her decision.

‘Obviously I am no longer in Dubai, I was due back for work anyway so I came back with the kids, they’re on school holidays now and I just wanted to bring them back with me.’

She then went on: ‘I’m now in my refugee era, displaced from my home.

‘No it’s fine, it was actually fine leaving. We went through Oman. Very, very easy. Took like 15 minutes to get through the border and then flew out from Muscat to Heathrow.’

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Some users on X responded to her comments, with one calling her ‘so out of touch it’s actually laughable’.

Luisa Zissman https://www.instagram.com/luisazissman/?hl=en
In the video, Luisa also expressed her fears of getting her phone stolen while recording (Picture: Luisa Zissman)
(Picture: Luisa Zissman/Instagram)
Luisa had previously said she felt the situation in Dubai ‘seemed fine’ (Picture: Luisa Zissman/Instagram)

Like many influencers, Luisa found herself in a country affected by war after Iranian missiles hit the United Arab Emirates.

At the end of last month the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear and ballistic missile programme and killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In response, Iran has targeted Israel, and countries with US military bases or which are home to US forces.

Luisa, who moved to Dubai in December with two of her children and husband Andrew Collins, updated her 712,000 followers on Instagram by telling them that she was ‘back in Blighty’.

Last week, Luisa had told her fans: ‘The situation here seems to be fine to be honest, the children have broken up one week early from school. I was due back to the UK on Monday for work so hoping that can happen. Can see lots of passenger planes in the sky.

‘I’m worried if I come back to the UK for work I won’t be able to get back to Dubai, so will take the children with me and see my parents too.’

Luisa Zissman https://www.instagram.com/luisazissman/?hl=en
She said she was planning to come back anyway for work (Picture: Luisa Zissman)

British Airways has cancelled flights to parts of the Middle East amid the conflict until later this year.

In a statement it said: ‘We’ve cancelled all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later this month and to and from Abu Dhabi until later this year.’

Like Luisa, TV personality Vicky Pattison travelled through Oman on her journey back to the UK.

Vicky Pattison drives 11 hours to Oman to get out of Dubai after missile strikes Picture: vickypattison
Vicky and husband Ercan Ramadan travelled back to the UK instead of going to Australia, as originally planned (Picture: vickypattison)

After three cancelled flights, the former Geordie Shore star made the call with her husband to come home by making their way to Oman from Dubai via a private transfer.

She wrote on social media: ‘All in all, the journey took us around 11 hours, including around 2-3 hours at the border crossing, checking documents and passports and cost about £130pp.’

Metro has contacted Luisa Zissman’s representative for comment.

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