Laura Whitmore has opened up about her “love hate relationship” with social media.
The presenter expressed that the current almost worldwide quarantine has caused her to engage more online, after distancing herself from the online world due to hate and bullying.
Laura described how she was hesitant to accept her most recent role as host of Love Island following the tragic death of pal Caroline Flack due to the hateful comments she had seen being made against the star online.
“When British television presenter Caroline Flack took her own life in February this year, I remember thinking about what she had to put up with,” she wrote for Glamour magazine.
“All the comments I had seen online and savage headlines sprawled across the newspaper, day in, day out. Caroline always seemed like nothing had bothered her. She was feisty and strong-willed.”
“I’d been jealous that she was able to not let it all get to her, whereas I knew, in a similar situation, I would have crumbled.”
“Whatever happened in her personal life or bad decisions she may have made, she didn’t deserve the attention she had to deal with daily. It was not the business or duty of the keyboard warriors to publicly shame her.”
“When I was asked to host Love Island, although I love the show, a part of me questioned whether I wanted to put myself in such a position that would invite public scrutiny.
“I wanted to get away from the whole ‘blond girl gets dressed up on the telly’ identity that had been attached to me. But I’m good at my job, and I love live TV.”
“So I made my decision based on my own opinion, rather than worry or anticipate the thoughts of the social media army.”
Laura revealed that she removed all personal references from her social media platforms, and chose to use them purely to display her professional endeavours.
She detailed that she has faced bullying online, with followers and trolls mocking her appearance. However, she expressed that the current social distancing measures have allowed her to reconnect with the online world in a healthy way.
