BBC Rogue Traders presenter Dan Penteado pleaded guilty on Tuesday at Bournemouth magistrates' court to illegally obtaining housing and council tax benefit worth £24,000.
Penteado, 40, who co-hosts the programme with Matt Allwright, admitted eight offences of dishonestly or knowingly claiming the benefits while not declaring he earned thousands from the BBC for the show.
Penteado, from Bournemouth, was warned he could face jail and he was granted bail while a pre-sentence report is prepared.
Kerry O'Neill, prosecuting, said the offences went back to 2007 when Penteado filled out his first claim form and failed to declare he had another bank account.
The court heard that Penteado repeated the fraud in subsequent years up to 2011.
In that time he failed to tell Bournemouth Borough Council he had been paid more than £56,000 for his work on Rogue Traders from 2008 to 2011.
"He (Penteado) received £24,077.60 in housing and council tax benefit he was not entitled to," Miss O'Neill said.
"He failed to notify the borough council of the money coming in."
The court heard the council, which brought the prosecution, would be seeking to recover all the cash and Penteado had paid back £210 already.