Raised in Bray, County Dublin by her mother, Laura Whitmore began her career early in the spotlight, reaching the final fifteen in a 2003 modeling talent search led by The Late Late Show on RTE.
After a stint on Newstalk, Laura made headlines in 2008 when she signed up for a show called choose me mtv . The object of the game was to be selected to be the face of MTV Europe’s news show. Laura was successful and later hosted the station’s newscasts from 2008 to 2015.
Then comes his passage on Come dance strictly where the Dubliner teamed up with Giovanni Pernice where she fought her way through six shows before being rejected after losing the dance with Ore Oduba. Huge hosting gigs on survival of the fittest, and the spin-off at ‘I’m a celebrity” Get me out of here now brought Laura’s unique flair to millions of viewers.
The the island of love presentation work followed shortly after. Whitmore joined the show as a temporary replacement for Caroline Flack after Flack was arrested on charges of assaulting her partner. After Flack’s tragic suicide in 2020, Whitmore remained the host.
His book No one can change your life But you hit the shelves around the same time. It was described as “funny, positive and empowering” by Sara Pascoe, who added “Laura is like a PT for your self-confidence”.
Meanwhile, her love life was also getting stellar. Met at an ITV party in 2017, Laura dated comedian Iain Stirling. He proposed to the broadcaster in South Africa and they married in Dublin. The birth of their daughter Stevie Ré soon followed.
But it wasn’t all easy. Laura’s comments about a reporter’s threat to publish her baby girl’s name prompted some to call her a hypocrite for pushing the Be Kind hashtag.
And while some defended Whitmore’s right to privacy, many social media users were quick to criticize her response, arguing there was no need to name and shame a reporter for having does its job.
“Laura Whitmore being the head of the ‘be nice’ police after Caroline Flack’s death to send her supporters after a reporter for ‘politely’ asking her AGENT to confirm her baby’s name is just a bit :/ for me,” the Twitter user wrote.
“[Laura Whitmore] is a journalism student, ex-showbiz reporter, did a few pregnancy photo shoots with the media, but God forbid the media ask her the name of her baby, I don’t get it,” another user wrote.
But now Laura Whitmore is starting a new chapter. She is turning to her original passion – journalism, with news from a new show called Laura Whitmore Investigates. The series will see Laura exploring “worlds where sex and power collide”, delving into “edgy and difficult worlds”.
She described it as “a dream come true” to return to her roots as a journalist.
In a statement on Instagram last week, the Irish presenter spoke about elements of the production of Love Island that she found “difficult” prompting her to prefer to do something different.
“Some news!” she wrote. “I will not be hosting the next series of Love Island. There are some elements of the show that I found very difficult and cannot be changed due to the format, including back and forth to the South Africa with my conflicting new projects. I wish it was still possible but please know that you will be in safe hands. I was only planning to replace Caroline for 1 series and it turned into 3 series. I hope that I made you proud Caroline.
ITV thanked Whitmore for her accommodation saying they “respect her decision” and “look forward to working with her on future ITV projects”.
Now, as well as his podcast Partners in Crime which she is co-presenting with her husband, it has been announced that she will be joining the West End hit 2:22 A ghost story in September.
What many don’t know is that Laura trained at the Leinster School of Music and Drama and studied Shakespeare at RADA. She takes the stage alongside Tamsin Carroll, Felix Scott and Matt Willis, having recently stopped working on her BBC Radio 5 Live Show.
Today, posting a sweet image with her baby girl toddling through the leaves, the presenter appeared to be making the most of her lifestyle change. “My favorite time of the year,” she captioned, “and first day off.”
The start of a whole new chapter.