Laura Whitmore has slammed the “exhausting and unfair” scrutiny she receives as the host of Love Island.
The Irish presenter landed the role back in 2020, taking over from the late Caroline Flack.
Speaking on the Distraction Pieces podcast, the 37-year-old opened up about the trolling she has received from fans of the hit dating show.
The Bray native said: “With stuff with Love Island, it’s just a bit exhausting sometimes because some of the stuff is just mental.”
“As a host, this takes up not a huge amount of my time compared to my other work. It’s over eight weeks. The host only comes on three or four times, it’s always been the way, but it gets the most attention. It’s a bit exhausting and it’s tough.”
“You know what’s hard? I’ve seen other women talked about online the way I’ve been talked about online. I saw when Caroline worked on the show what she got every year and I never knew how she handled it.”
“I always thought, ‘Jesus, she’s so strong.’ And people aren’t as strong as you think they are,” she added.
Laura continued: “It’s scary when you start, you get the exact same stuff that she got like, ‘Where’s the presenter? They’re never in there.’ I get that some of it you have to take with a pinch of salt, but then some of it is a bit exhausting.”
The ‘No One Can Change Your Life Except For You’ author went on to describe how she believes women in the industry are picked on more than men.
She said: “I’m very aware that not everyone gets talked about in the same way. It’s very specific people in this industry that get talked about that way. I know I’ve been talked about a bit differently whenever I was single to then suddenly having a child.”
“My male co-presenters – it was always talked about what I was wearing when I started working – no one’s talking about what they’re wearing. They’re not getting this.”
Laura added: “I’m doing my job, that’s the most important thing and I’m doing my job well and I’m being professional.”
“Meanwhile, the outside world will talk about how you look, what you’re wearing, who you’re dating, do you have a child, should you be doing this and all these things are talked about constantly.”
“You have to remove yourself or you’ll just go crazy after a while. But I see my male counterparts not being talked about in the same way and that’s hard and unfair.”
Love Island is set to return to our screens early next year for a winter series.
