Reality TV star Lauren Goodger has been duped into promoting a poisonous drink containing hydrogen cyanide in a sting for a BBC documentary.

The Only Way Is Essex actress was secretly filmed during a meeting where she was asked to promote a fake diet drink named Cyanora on her Instagram.

In the BBC Three documentary Blindboy Undestroys the World, Miss Goodger was asked to advertise the drink despite it not even being ready for production.

It was part of an investigation by the show into whether celebrities actually consume the products which they are paid to promote to their followers on social media.

The drink was said to contain hydrogen cyanide, a deadly chemical used in both world wars, including at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in the 1940s.

The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Goodger (right) and her agent (left) were duped into promoting a poisonous drink in the BBC Three documentary Blindboy Undestroys the World

Miss Goodger's fellow The Only Way Is Essex star Mike Hassini, 25, and Love Island contestant Zara Holland, 24, were also filmed during the sting.

They were told among the ingredients of the new drink was hydrogen cyanide - which was used as chemical weapon by the French during the First World War.

The chemical was also used by Nazi Germany during the Second World War for disinfection and pest extermination on ships, before they used it in gas chambers.

In the show, Miss Goodger talks about her promoting another product called Skinny Coffee, which she previously claimed had helped her lose 12lbs in three weeks.

But her agent tells the seller: 'Half these posts you see that people do, they're not even trying them half the time.' Miss Goodger adds: 'I never tried Skinny Coffee.'

The Only Way Is Essex actress was secretly filmed during a meeting where she was asked to promote a fake diet cyanide drink named Cyanora on her Instagram

Miss Goodger's agent said celebrities have often not tried the products they are promoting

The seller then adds: 'Because we were a bit worried that maybe you'd want to, you'd need to try it, before you mention it - no, not bothered?'

But Miss Goodger replies: 'No. 'I've even had my own friends message me Laur, can you get me some of that Skinny Coffee, does it work?

'I'm like, do you not know this by now? And they're actually going and buying it, and I'm like, you know how this works.'

Miss Goodger went on to film a video clip for the fake drink, which saw her struggling to pronounce the product name, calling it 'hydrone cydnide'.

Love Island contestant Zara Holland, 24, also agreed to promote the product without trying it, before her agent stepped in and said she wouldn't promote it without trying it first'

The sting formed part of a new four-part series looking into social issues by a comedian known only as BlindBoy Boatclub, who wears a plastic bag on his head.

Kate Phillips, the controller of BBC entertainment, had previously described the programme as a 'funny, important show and not to be missed'.

Back in January, Miss Goodger was criticised by fans for her 'fake' weight loss as she revealed her body transformation on Instagram after taking a diet supplement.

Posting two before and after photos, she praised Skinny Coffee for helping her achieve her toned frame and said she had lost 12lbs in just three weeks.

She had said: 'So it's my third week of @skinnycoffeeclub's #SuperSkinnyBundle and I've lost another 3lbs! So that's 12lbs in 3 weeks!! I can't actually believe it...

The Only Way Is Essex star Mike Hassini, who has reinvented himself as fitness guru, was also caught in the sting as he overlooked the poisonous ingredient in his audition.

'My body is really starting to change now, my clothes feel baggier and all my mates have noticed the difference.

How hydrogen cyanide was used to kill one million Jews in WWII Hydrogen cyanide is a deadly chemical which was used in both world wars. The compound was first employed as a chemical warfare agent by the French in the First World War, although no deaths were ever reported at the time. Metal canisters of Zyklon B, the brand name for hydrogen cyanide, pictured at the Auschwitz concentration camp It was then used in Germany before and during the Second World War for disinfection and pest extermination in ships, buildings and machinery. It was then utilised at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for sanitation and pest control until August 1941, when the Nazis tried experimenting with it as an agent for mass murder. They then began using it routinely, and it was supplied to the camp under the name Zyklon B from a Frankfurt-based firm called Degesch in sealed metal canisters because its volatility brought a risk of accidental poisoning. More than one million Jews were killed using Zyklon B, mostly at Auschwitz. This is around a sixth of the total number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Hydrogen cyanide has also been used as an execution method on death row in the US, with the last case in 1999 being when Arizona used clouds of hydrogen cyanide to execute an inmate who took 18 minutes to die. Advertisement

'I really tried my best with the eating and exercise program and it's really starting to show. It's honestly so easy to do, it doesn't really feel like a diet at all.

'Obviously you need to eat well and train too but it just gives you that extra boost. Also I've noticed @skinnycoffeeclub is actually helping my skin too.

'Everyone keeps saying it's glowing! I'm so pleased. Can't wait for the final results next week. Don't judge it till you've tried it #ad'.

But social media followers accused her of 'lying' about how she lost weight, and claiming the transformation was down to the angle of the photo or surgery.

Miss Goodger posted on Instagram after the show was broadcast: 'They don't respect you at the bottom. They ignore you in the middle. Then they hate you when you get to the top.

'You'll never have everyone's approval, so it's best to focus on your own. Everyone just be kind. On that note, goodnight.'

A representative for Miss Goodger told MailOnline: 'Lauren was asked to go to an audition by her old management to attend a meeting to appear in an advert for a new water. There was no mention of what the water contained before the meeting. The money on the table was quite a large sum which was offered.'

Miss Goodger told MailOnline: 'I was asked to read a script which I did to screen test me for the job. This script was given to me at that precise moment. No deals were signed and it was an audition.

'As with any audition you people please and say what they want to hear. They asked me would I promote the drink without using it. In the heat of the moment I said yes and also said I hadn't tried skinny coffee in the hope of getting the job.

'Of course I would never promote anything that contains poison and proper checks would have been made before any promotion. I also have never said I lost two stone using skinny coffee. That is a complete lie and I'm unsure where that has come from.

Miss Goodger was criticised by fans in January for her 'fake' weight loss as she revealed her 'before and after' body transformation on Instagram after taking a diet supplement

'I would never promote anything on my Instagram that I don't feel is right for my followers and that I haven't used. The sit down meeting after the audition was filmed undercover without my knowledge.'

Her agent's company also told the programme: 'Our client no longer represents Ms Goodger.

'Our client would not endorse the promotion of products that contained harmful or suspect ingredients, or without knowing the contents. Our client was told the product was still in development.'

Mr Hassini, meanwhile, who has reinvented himself as fitness guru, was also caught in the sting as he overlooked the poisonous ingredient in his audition.

He said he was happy to promote the product without trying it, adding: 'That's absolutely fine. That's not a problem at all. From what I know, that all looks pretty natural.'

Miss Holland also agreed to promote the product without trying it, before her agent stepped in and said she wouldn't promote it without trying it first'.

In a response to the programme, Miss Holland said: 'Although I had read out the ingredients which included hydrogen cyanide, I did not immediately know what this was at the time.

How the sting invokes memories of pranks in C4's comedy Brass Eye Chris Morris, who created Brass Eye The sting invokes memories of pranks in Channel 4 comedy show Brass Eye, created by Chris Morris. He tricked Conservative MP David Amess into believed there was a fresh threat facing Britain's youth called Cake. Mr Amess was filmed referring to Cake as 'a big yellow death bullet' and went on to ask ministers a question in Parliament about the fictional drug. The show's writers described Cake as 'a new legal drug from Czechoslovakia'. As Mr Amess held a giant yellow piece of Cake producers handed him, he told viewers: 'Look at that, a £100,000 in the pocket of the filth that sells it. 'A big yellow death bullet in the head of some poor user – or custard gannet as the dealers call them. I'm off to do what I can – and if you don't mind, I'll leave this with you. I don't want to look at it for another moment.' The show filmed celebrities endorsing a War on Cake as producers claimed groups called F.U.K.D. (Free the United Kingdom from Drugs) and B.O.M.B.D. (British Opposition to Metabolically Bisturbile Drugs) wanted it banned. Advertisement

'My agent did state that I would not promote a product without trying the product first, and we needed to be provided with more details.

'I would never deliberately mislead my followers or promote a product that was dangerous.'

Miss Goodger's representative declined to comment. MailOnline has contacted Mr Hassini and Miss Holland's representatives for comment.

In January, celebrities and social media influencers were ordered to clearly state when they are paid to endorse products or given gifts or loans online.

Stars including Alexa Chung, Rita Ora, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Ellie Goulding were among 16 celebrities investigated by the British government.

All of them were looked into by authorities because they may have repeatedly breached the guidelines laid out by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The intervention came following warnings that rules on advertising were being flouted by a number of high profile Instagram and Twitter users.

If they do not clearly declare if they have been paid or received products as gifts they endorse, they could be in breach of consumer protection law.

Posts containing advertising must, by law, be flagged with the hashtag #ad, #sponsored or #freebie in a 'prominent' position on each individual post.

All content that includes adverts or discount codes and provides a form of payment, whether monetary or in the shape of free gifts, must also be declared.

Blindboy Undestroys the World is available on BBC Three, only on iPlayer here