A BRIT “mum on the run” who bragged about raking in benefits while living in luxury abroad has been jailed.
Ellis Matthews, 35, shot to online fame after fleeing the UK while pregnant and documenting her “dream life” in Thailand.
She also shared tips on how to fraudulently claim benefits – revealing she was raking in £2,300 a month while living overseas.
But Matthews was locked up in a “hell-hole” prison crawling with rats and cockroaches after overstaying her visa.
She was eventually deported back to Britain without her four-year-old son last year.
Within weeks of returning to Lancashire, Matthews was arrested over drug offences.
She has now been jailed for 26 months after pleading guilty to supplying cocaine, as well as possessing cocaine and cannabis.
Matthews was remanded to HMP Styal to begin her sentence but the 108 days she served in a Thai jail will count towards her jail term.
The wannabe influencer gained online notoriety with her bikini-clad “mum on the run” videos.
Matthews bragged about her “dream life” allegedly being funded by £2,300 per month in swindled British benefits.
She claimed to be living off Disability Living Allowance during her four years living abroad after telling the DWP she had six mental disorders.
Matthews now claims her TikTok videos about scamming benefits were “a joke” to “get more followers and make some money“.
She added: “The truth is I never got any UK benefits while in Thailand, not a single penny.
“It was all a big hoax, that’s all.
“I can understand why people were angry and upset about them.”
