A MILLIONAIRE businessman has vowed to continue supporting the family he began to help through a reality TV show, despite the mother’s conviction for benefit fraud.

Grange hotelier Jonathan Denby said he was standing by mum-of-three Charlene Isaac after she was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay back Haringey Council nearly £5,000 in overpayments for housing benefit.

Mr Denby said the authority’s decision to prosecute Ms Isaacs was ‘spiteful’ and dismissed as ‘nonsense’ suggestions the case was connected to the financial help he had given the family.

Ms Isaac appeared on the Channel 4 show How The Other Half Live on May 20 with partner Glen and their children.

The programme showed how the life of the family, which was struggling to cope with living on a crime-ridden Tottenham estate, starkly contrasted with that of the Denbys in Grange-over-Sands.

By the end of the show, Mr Denby had agreed to provide financial support for the family so they could move to a better area and Glen could fulfil his ambition to train as a teacher.

Haringey Council said Ms Isaac had been overpaid £4,998 in ‘false claims’ before accepting help from the Denby family.

She was arrested last month and ordered to repay the full amount at £100-a-month by JPs.

Mr Denby said: “Haringey Council decided to mount this spiteful prosecution after the show was aired.”

He said he still visited them regularly and Ms Isaacs and her family had also visited Grange-over-Sands in the summer.

“This had absolutely nothing to do with the money we gave,” he said. “This all happened before we got to know them.

“The problem of the over payment arose during filming. She simply made a mistake and ticked a wrong box when declaring her husband’s income. She agreed to pay back £100 a month once she realised.

“In April, I arranged for them to move out of their home and agreed to guarantee the rent, which I still pay.

"They are now extremely happy and their lives have been transformed.”