Love Island host Laura Whitmore has 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”.
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.
“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.
“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.”
