A few days ago, TV host Laura Whitmore quietly removed the Love Island tag from her Instagram account bio.
A handful of devoted followers may have noticed the change, but it wasn’t until Monday that the Irish star, 37, made a statement about quitting the popular ITV2 reality show.
She said, “I found it very difficult not to be able to change certain elements of the show, there were some elements due to the format.”
She cited her “new conflicting project” in addition to traveling to and from South Africa, where the winter edition of the show is filmed.
“I wish it was still possible, but you know you are in safe hands. It’s gone,” she said.
For some of the 1.6 million people who follow Whitmore on Instagram, it wouldn’t come as a shock.
The sour comments began in early June when she first stepped into the limelight and announced the eighth series of the dating show. Negative sentiment spilled over her Sunday night spin-off show, Love Island: After Sun.
There were calls for her to be fired over a string of questions she had with rugby player Jack O’Neill.
She was accused by the actress’s own social media accounts of eventual winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu of being a “slut.” This sparked a complaint with British watchdog Ofcom about Whitmore, prompting ITV to release a statement in her defense.
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“Laura is the show’s host and part of her role is to pose questions to the panel and discuss events at the villa,” it said. I will not accept promotions.”
Whitmore, who has a baby girl with show narrator Ian Sterling, has repeatedly spoken out about all the negativity. she said never.
Whitmore reveals how she’s been called ‘bored’ and too old to come forward love islandAddressing the issue of misogyny, her TV attire was constantly commented on, but her male co-presenters were never subjected to the same level of scrutiny.
“The outside world talks about what you look like, what you wear, who you’re dating, whether you have kids, whether you need to be doing this, and all of this is a constant topic of conversation. It’s become,” she said. a piece of distraction podcast.
“I have to get rid of myself or I’ll go insane after a while. But it’s hard and unfair to see my male counterparts not being told the same way.”
Whitmore has a busy few months ahead.Next month she will make her West End debut 2:22 ghost storyShe also has a new television project called Whitmore investigates A podcast with Sterling called partner in crime.
Female hosts like Vogue Williams and her comedian companion Joanne McNally have also spoken out about the level of abuse they receive online, and broadcaster Jennifer Zamparelli has moved off Twitter entirely.
Social media is woefully inadequate when it comes to learning lessons from the past.What happened to the #BeKind movement that went viral after before love island Did presenter Caroline Flack tragically take her own life in 2020?
The 40-year-old has endured years of online abuse. Her mother said she could do more to protect the mental health of TV hosts.
“The duty of care to presenters needs to be better. If you work in an office, you are safe, but not on TV.
