Reality television personality Jamie Laing and his wife Sophie Habboo were woken at 1am when police searched their West London home following a security alarm at a nearby property.
The couple revealed on their NewlyParents podcast that four police officers knocked on their front door in the middle of the night after an alarm sounded at the house of an unnamed high-profile celebrity living on their street.
Describing the late night incident as terrifying, Laing explained how officers searched the grounds of their home after responding to the neighbouring alert.
"The police came to our house, I'm not even going to sugar coat it," Laing said on the podcast. "I'm not going to say who it is, but we have a high-profile person living on our street. So we were like, 'Okay, this is mega'. I was terrified. It was pretty scary."
Habboo added that officers searched their garden during the initial check. "We were both there like, 'What's going on?' They looked in our garden. They jumped over the gate. They were like, 'Don't worry about it, mate'. They go out. No one's there," she recalled.
Police search with sniffer dogs
Laing admitted that the sudden presence of law enforcement officers inside their residence left him thoroughly shaken. "I was s******g myself. I was terrified. These guys came into the house. It's like policemen in your house," he said.
After the initial sweep, the couple asked officers to return to perform a check of their basement for anything suspicious. Police returned to inspect the lower levels of the house accompanied by sniffer dogs.
Laing recalled being intimidated by the size and intensity of the police dog brought onto the property. "Good luck taking that dog on. If that chased after you, I would play dead on the ground," he said. "It was so ready to take anyone down that its owner was, like, holding it back. It was enormous."
Laing, 37, is best known as a long-standing cast member on the E4 reality series Made in Chelsea, which he joined during its second series in 2011. He is also an entrepreneur who founded the vegan confectionery brand Candy Kittens and co-hosts the BBC Radio 1 afternoon drive time show. Habboo, 32, also gained prominence on Made in Chelsea before launching several successful podcasts alongside her husband, including Newly Weds and NewlyParents.
Previous security scares in Notting Hill
The midnight police search follows a string of security incidents that the couple have faced at their West London home in recent months.
In March, Laing revealed that he was targeted by thieves twice in the space of a single week, including an attempted home invasion and a vehicle break-in outside their residence.
The couple had moved to Notting Hill last year after purchasing a family home, having previously rented accommodation in nearby Chelsea. Notting Hill is an affluent neighbourhood in West London known for its high-profile residents and historic townhouses.
Recalling the attempted burglary on his podcast, Laing explained that he and Habboo were woken up at 6am to loud banging noises as balaclava-wearing intruders attempted to force their way into the property.
Laing stated he was butt naked when he heard loud noises around 5:45am and went downstairs to investigate. "At 5:45 am, I heard this boom, boom, boom, and I was like, 'What the hell is that?'" he said. "Sophie was still fast asleep next to me. So I got up, completely naked, and went downstairs to check."
After finding nothing at the front door, Laing looked out of the sitting room window and spotted an intruder. "I always sleep with the window open, and I suddenly saw someone trying to break into the flat below, wearing a balaclava," he said.
"I thought I would go full Rambo mode, but instead, I just panicked and started going, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!'" Laing added.
Panicked by the situation, Laing contacted emergency services to ask about response times and whether they should evacuate. He then lay down flat against the front door, using his own body as a human door wedge to block potential intruders.
Vehicle targeted outside residence
Just days after the attempted break-in, Laing suffered another incident when someone broke into his vehicle parked on the street outside their home.
Speaking on his BBC Radio 1 show, Laing recounted approaching his vehicle with Habboo and noticing that the car door was slightly open.
"So, I live in London, I was with my wife Sophie and we went to get in our car," Laing explained. "It's parked around the place we live, and it's London right, things maybe go missing occasionally or whatever. I walked up to the car, and the car looked a little bit funny, the door was slightly open, and I was like, 'hang on a second, has someone managed to get into the car?'"
Upon closer inspection, the couple discovered that items had been taken, but the thieves had left behind unusual items inside the vehicle. "Came up to the car and we had been robbed," Laing said. "They left the pineapple in one seat and the melon in another seat."
Laing recalled questioning his wife about the fruit left behind on the seats. "I said to my wife, 'did you leave these in the car?' and she was like, 'no?', so I don't know if it's a sign or the mark they leave," he said.
The couple continue to share updates on their family life and broadcast weekly episodes of their podcast network.
