Laura Whitmore almost passed on hosting ‘Love Island’ because she was worried what impact the job could have on her mental health.
The 34-year-old Irish presenter stepped in for the late Caroline Flack when she stepped down from the ITV2 dating show late last year, but Laura was not 100 per cent certain she should accept the offer because of all the attention being the face of such a popular series brings and she was concerned online trolls could worsen her anxiety.
Speaking to Becca Dudley on JD’s ‘In The Duffle Bag’ podcast, Laura shared: "I love the show but I did have to think, ‘Do I want to go back here?’ Because as much as I love it, I know it’s a big show and it throws you in the centre of all this attention that I didn’t necessarily want, so you have to weigh up the good and the bad and it all came down to the fact that I love this show, so of course I wanted to do it!
"I’m already really aware and self-conscious of my [Irish] accent. People are always going to be mean and rude, so I just choose not to look at that. People want to rile you up, they say something just to get a reaction but I’m too busy living my life to reply to that.
"I wouldn’t say confident and sassy … there’s a lot of insecurities there and I think that’s being human. There’s highs and lows and it’s about navigating through that.. You know what, being in my 30s is so much better than my 20s."
Laura hates troll culture and always aims to use her social media channels to promote positivity and change.
She said: "I like to use social media for positives but sometimes you do need to call people out but it’s taken me until now to do that and to feel confident calling people out."
Laura is in a relationship with ‘Love Island’ narrator Iain Stirling and she has spilled that it was her who had to "make the moves" on him when they first met.
She said: "When we first met he didn’t even hit on me, he was too nervous to hit on me! I think he was intimidated by me. I remember Iain was too scared to ask me out so in the end I had to ask him out.
"He used to send me random messages, DM me and ask me about my dog. It took nine months but we got there! I was like, ‘Let’s just go for a drink’. I think I had to make the moves on him."
Laura Whitmore launches season 2 of JD’s ‘In The Duffle Bag’ podcast series with a live International Women’s Day episode. Download from Apple, iTunes, Spotify and A-cast and leave a review to win a holiday for two to Majorca.
Laura Whitmore had doubts about Love Island job
