Yahoo News Alix Earle 'Stranded' in Italy After She Says Got 'Scammed' by Booking Villa That 'Doesn't Exist'
The beauty influencer shared a TikTok of her travel woes on Monday: "What do we do now!?!!!!"
Alix Earle/TikTok
Alix Earle has seemingly been "scammed" on a girls trip to Italy, where she says the villa they booked is non-existent.
The beauty influencer, 22, shared a TikTok of her travel woes on Monday. "What do we do now!?!!!!" she captioned the post, then detailed via video what had transpired.
"We're stranded in Italy," Earle casually announced to fans in a white tank with a denim jacket resting over her shoulders. "The house we were supposed to stay at doesn't exist. Our car service canceled. It's midnight. We literally don't know where to go."
"11 girls stranded in Positano," Earle added in a playful tone, "The girls trip took a turn."
At one point she wrote "Thx Booking.com" on the video. A representative for the travel site looked into the incident and reported back to PEOPLE, confirming the "fake villa" was listed on a "fake copycat website," which upon investigation, has since been taken down.
"To ensure travel is legitimately and securely being booked through our platform, we recommend using the official Booking.com app," the company told PEOPLE. "Should travelers ever have questions about a booking or need support of any kind, our customer service team is available 24/7."
Related: Who Is Alix Earle? All About the Viral TikTok Sensation
Meanwhile, Earle reassured fans in an update later that day, showing that her group was able to check into some temporary new digs.
"4 girls. One cot," she captioned a video of herself fanning a handful of friends goofing around in a tiny twin bed. "We found a place to stay the night after our 'scenic villa in Italy' didn't exist."
Despite the travel snafu, Earle appears to be taking the misadventure in stride, as are a slew of her fans.
"This is such a missed opportunity for a hotel chain sponsorship," one savvy follower wrote, while another teased, "This is when your influencer money comes in to save the day."
Alix Earle/TikTok
The University of Miami grad has become one of the fastest-growing creators on the app, racking up more than 5.2 million TikTok followers to date. Viewers still praise Earle for her "relatable" personality and down-to-earth lifestyle.
For example, Earle recently gave an apartment tour showing that her life isn't exactly as luxurious as people may think.
The New Jersey native opened the video welcoming her viewers to the "tour you've all been waiting for," of her "casa amor."
She started by showing a handmade bird-house-turned-cockroach-house next to the kitchen trash can that she and her roommates built for all the creepy crawlers that live in their apartment.
"So first off we have casa cucaracha, we get a lot of cockroaches so we just made a little house for them," the then-college senior said in the video. "Our chip bag clips are also cockroach themed."
She's also the new face of a longtime fan-favorite beauty trend, the "Get Ready with Me" (GRWM), which originally gained popularity during the early 2000s YouTube era as a way for content creators to share their skincare and makeup routines while giving fans a look into their personal lives.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The majority of Earle's TikToks see her recounting the everyday moments of her life while she does her makeup and chooses an outfit. And while her earlier GRWMs showed her preparing for class and tailgating at the Univerity of Miami, some of her more recent videos involve higher profile events as Earle's influencer career takes off. In December 2022, she took fans along while she got ready for a VIP night out at Miley Cyrus's New Year's Eve party in Miami.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
