Laura Whitmore (born 4 May 1985) is an Irish media personality and model based in London. She was a video jockey for MTV in 2008, and has since presented television shows, such as This Morning (2014), Survival of the Fittest (2018) and Love Island (2020–2022). In 2020, Whitmore became a team captain on the comedy panel show Celebrity Juice. In 2023, Whitmore hosted her first ITV1 chat show Laura Whitmore's Breakfast Show and released her own ITVX documentary series Laura Whitmore Investigates.
In April 2008, MTV Networks Europe launched a campaign Pick Me MTV[5] where Whitmore competed to become the face of MTV News in MTV Europe. She won the competition, and between 2008 and 2015 hosted news bulletins for MTV across Europe. She was regularly seen on MTV News hosting special events in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.[6]
A pilot episode of songwriting-based talent show The Hit aired in September 2012 on RTÉ Two, hosted by Whitmore. On 15 March 2013, RTÉ announced that the show had been ordered for a full series which was broadcast in the summer, but Whitmore would not host due to a conflicting schedule in London.[10]Aidan Power and Nicky Byrne presented the full series.
In February 2015, Whitmore left MTV News after seven years on the channel, but continued to present irregular segments and specials.[14][15] Her last bulletin with the station was recorded on 26 February 2015.[16]
On 10 August 2016, Whitmore took part in the fourteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, beginning September 2016.[17] She was partnered with Italian dancer Giovanni Pernice and was the sixth contestant to be voted out, on 5 November 2016, following a dance off with eventual series champions Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton. She was the first contestant to complain of her treatment by Pernice saying “I was extremely uncomfortable with him. In the end, I felt broken. I cried every day.”[18]
On 20 December 2019, it was announced that Whitmore would host the sixth series of ITV2's Love Island in 2020 after Caroline Flack was arrested for assaulting her partner Lewis Burton.[20][21] Following Flack's death while that was airing, Whitmore returned for the seventh series in June 2021.
On 23 August 2022, it was announced that Whitmore will step down from hosting Love Island. One of the reasons for stepping down was Whitmore's new projects that were conflicting with her commitment to Love Island.[22]
In April 2023, Laura begun hosting her chatshow Laura Whitmore's Breakfast Show on ITV1 where she invites celebrity guests into her studio for a chat every Sunday at 8:30am.
In July 2023, she released her ITVX documentary series Laura Whitmore Investigates which explores a number of controversial topics and the impact they have on the world.
Other work
In 2003, Whitmore was a contestant in a modelling talent search on RTÉ One's The Late Late Show, reaching the final 15 of the competition.[23]
In August 2009, she launched a self-branded clothing range available at A Wear.[24]
In 2011, she appeared on the September cover of FHM magazine.[25]
She collaborated with Daisy London on a jewellery collection in October 2015. The collection was inspired by music and features the recurring shape of the plectrum throughout.[27][28]
In October 2014, she launched Misstache for Movember, a campaign for women to support and raise awareness of the men's health charity.[29]
She features in the music video for "Skip to the Good Bit", a song by Rizzle Kicks and the music video for "Mark My Words" by The Coronas. In 2017, she played Cleo Morey alongside Shane Richie, Bill Ward and Stephen Billington in the stage adaptation of the Peter James book Not Dead Enough.
She hosted a weekly Sunday morning radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live between 2018 and 2022.[31][32]
In September 2020, she was announced by Nintendo UK as a brand ambassador for the Nintendo Switch game Ring Fit Adventure and began appearing in a TV advertisement for the game.[33]
On 4 March 2021, Whitmore's first book titled No One Can Change Your Life Except For You was released.[34] In August 2022, it was announced that Whitmore would be joining the cast of 2:22 A Ghost Story on West End.[35][36]
In November 2023 it was announced that Whitmore was cast in a lead role in the feature film ‘'A Mother for an Hour'’ which is due to be released in 2024.[37]
From November 2023, she co-hosts a BBC Radio podcast, "Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling" in which they present true crime stories. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gq38lc
In 2024, she appeared on the January/February cover of Xmag UK magazine.[38]
Personal life
As of 2018, Whitmore lived in the Camden area of London.[39] She married Scottish comedian Iain Stirling in a private humanist ceremony in 2020 at Dublin City Hall.[40] Whitmore gave birth to their daughter, Stevie Ré, in late March 2021.[41][42]
_(cropped).jpg)
