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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
James Brinsford

Laura Whitmore quits Love Island in shock move over 'certain elements of show'

Laura Whitmore has quit Love Island, telling fans she can no longer host the ITV2 series.

She wrote on Instagram : "Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love island.

"There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.

"I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into 3 series.

"I hope I did you proud Caroline."

It comes just days after Laura opened up about the difficulties of being under intense scrutiny while helming the ITV2 dating show.

The television personality, 37, came under fire during the latest series of the show when 427 viewers complained to Ofcom following comments she made about Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu during an episode of Aftersun.

Following a barrage of complaints through official channels and via social media, ITV producers declared they “do not condone trolling against our host or Islanders”.

Laura, who took over the hosting role from the late Caroline Flack, has described the spotlight on her hosting Love Island as “exhausting and tough”.

(REX)

The Irish TV presenter labelled the focus on her “unfair”, particularly on social media, where she said that being a woman is “scary”, adding that men are not treated the same way.

The Celebrity Juice star told the Distraction Pieces podcast: “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.”

She continued: “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.

“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.”

Laura went on to describe how she believes women in the industry are picked on more than men, saying: “I’m very aware that not everyone gets talked about in the same way."

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