When she kindly stepped in to replace her friend Caroline Flack as the host of Love Island, Laura Whitmore was cemented as one of ITV’s golden girls.

But after departing from a string of TV and radio gigs, and becoming more and more outspoken on social media, it seems that viewers have turned their back on her, with her current jobs a far cry from those of her reality TV heyday.

Despite cutting her teeth as a showbiz reporter for MTV, the Irish presenter has been quick to speak out on claims she disagress with, even slamming ITV bosses following her Love Island exit.

She also became embroiled in a feud with an Irish journalist following the birth of her daughter in 2021, branding them ‘vile’ for politely enquiring about claims surrounding her baby’s name. 

Having once fronted a breakfast show for BBC Radio 5 Live, in recent years Laura has fronted a lesser-watched podcast about true crime with her husband Iain Stirling.

And while she’s been promoting her stage work on social media, it’s likely to be paying significantly less than the bumper salary she received as a Love Island host. 

Laura Whitmore was cemented as ITV’s Golden Girl after standing in for pal Caroline Flack as the host of Love Island, but after a career switch-up,but has she lost her popularity with viewers?

The star, who first carved out her career as a showbiz journalist on MTV, has stepped away from the reality TV roles that made her a household name, fronting crime documentaries

Laura took over from Caroline Flack as the host of Love Island in December 2019 but stepped down from her role after the 2022 series, with Maya Jama taking over

The presenter fronted the ITV series from 2020 to 2022, but went onto quit the show, insisting she would still be fronting it if she had more freedom in her role.

Despite a net worth of £12 million, Laura’s theatre work no doubt pays far less than the salary she received while fronting Love Island, though the star denied reports that she was paid £600,000 for her time on the show.

It’s reported that stage stars can earn around £1,430 a week depending on audiences, say experts at What’s On Stage. 

Earlier this year, her Prime Video series Date My Mate was also axed after one series. 

Laura’s husband Iain, who both narrates Love Island and tours the country as a stand-up comedian, was earning a tidy sum himself in 2019, with accounts for his company Stirling Limited showing he earned £540,245 in annual profit in 2019. 

Laura has taken a noticeable swipe at Love Island bosses since her exit, sharing the reason for her departure in 2022. 

She admitted at the time: ‘If I could [have done] things the way I wanted to, I’d probably still be doing it.’ 

She said she struggled to remain impartial while working on the show, admitting she sometimes wanted to voice her opinion on what had happened in the villa and ask the Islanders how they were coping following their stay. 

Following her Love Island exit, Laura has focused more on stage work, being one of the first cast members for 2:22 A Ghost Story (pictured in 2022)

Since leaving Love Island in 2023, Laura has also fronted podcast Murder They Wrote with her husband of five years Iain Stirling

Speaking to Psychologies magazine, Laura said of the contestants: ‘There was only so much I can do as a host – I couldn’t support them or not support them. I couldn’t say anything.

‘So you kind of have to go quiet, and that was hard for me because I like to be able to have those conversations. 

‘If I could [have done] things the way I wanted to, I’d probably still be doing it.’ 

Laura has firmly aligned herself with Caroline’s ‘Be Kind’ mantra following her death in 2020, and has furiously hit out at trolls, leading some TV bosses to feel she’s less reliable to work with.

In 2021, she hit out at an Irish journalist after they sent an enquiry to her representatives about her daughter’s name.

At the time, The Mail’s Katie Hind wrote: ‘Walsh said she was planning a story about the suggestion that the child had been named after Fleetwood Mac’s singer Stevie Nicks and wondered if Whitmore might comment.

‘Instead of a private reply, Whitmore posted an angry comment on her social-media sites, accompanied by a screensH๏τ of Walsh’s request.

Whitmore wrote: ‘Vile. My agent received the below email… Niamh Walsh, I’m sure you have better and more pressing things to write about than guessing a child’s name and pressuring someone to talk about it either way! I’ll talk about my child on my terms when I choose.”

‘Not exactly the kindness, respect and sense of caring for each other that Whitmore had urged of fellow women in her radio dedication to Caroline Flack: ‘So, to listeners: be kind. Only you are responsible for how you treat others.’

Laura also found herself caught up in the row surrounding Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice, after his celebrity partner Amanda Abbington claimed her time with him on the show left her with PTSD.

Laura previously said she first raised concerns in 2016 with the show and in August this year accused the BBC of ‘gaslighting’ her over her experience with professional partner Giovanni.

Despite her ‘Be Kind’ mantra, Laura hit out at an Irish journalist after they sent an enquiry to her representatives about her daughter’s name

Niamh Walsh wrote a private email to Laura’s agent asking about the TV personality’s daughter

Laura responded with a message to her thousands of followers online

Over the weekend Laura also marked the anniversary of Caroline’s death by sharing the emotional last messages they exchanged before her pᴀssing

In 2018, Laura shared that she didn’t enjoy her time on Strictly with Giovanni, leaving the compeтιтion in week seven feeling ‘broken’ and admitting she ‘cried every day’.

However, the BBC cleared Giovanni of ten out of 16 allegations when its probe concluded in September, with channel bosses issuing an apology.

Over the weekend Laura also marked the anniversary of Caroline’s death by sharing the emotional last messages they exchanged before her pᴀssing.

TV star Caroline died at her North East London home on February 15, 2020, at the age of 40 and her death was ruled a suicide in an inquest in August of that year. 

Laura posted a throwback pH๏τo of them together, along with their last messages.

The texts, sent just weeks before Caroline’s tragic death, showed the deep support and respect the two presenters had for each other.

In one text, Caroline, saved as ‘Flacky’ in Laura’s phone, expressed her hope that Laura would take over her role on Love Island after she decided to step down in the wake of her arrest for alleged ᴀssault.

She wrote: ‘I hope you are doing the job… I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else.’

Laura replied saying it was ‘such a lovely message’ and explained she had met with producers, but nothing was confirmed yet.

Later, after landing the role, Laura shared the news with Caroline before it became public and promised to ‘do my very best to give it the justice it deserves.’

Caroline simply replied with a red heart emoji and said: ‘I’m glad it’s you.’

Laura took over from Caroline as the host of Love Island in December 2019 but stepped down from her role after the 2022 series, with Maya Jama taking over.

In a lengthy caption alongside the post, Laura gushed over Caroline’s ‘support’ of her and admitted it had ‘really hit me hard’ reading back their touching final ever exchange.

‘I got a new phone this month and as I was trying to download WhatsApp messages from my cloud loads of old messages came up. Ones I thought I lost a few years ago and no longer had. It really hit me hard,’ she penned.

‘Looking at messages I’ve never publicly shared as they were private messages. I think they show a side to Caroline which is nice to remember. Hence I’m sharing now.

‘She wasn’t perfect and I didn’t know her as well as others but I knew she had her demons. I met Caroline in 2011 when I took over from her hosting I’m a celebrity get me out of here now. 

‘She was as supportive of me doing that role back then as she was when she supported me doing Love Island in 2020. 

‘Both were great shows with hundreds of people working on them and relying on the show going ahead. 

‘I will always be so thankful of the last messages between me and Caroline. I never asked her about the court case – it wasn’t my business. I didn’t know her partner at the time and still don’t.’

Laura then revealed that she turned down the opportunity to appear in the upcoming Disney+ documentary about the late TV star.

She continued: ‘Every time I’ve been asked to speak about the situation or be part of a documentary I decline.

‘I’ve already said all I can say on the tragedy and don’t want words to be misconstrued and need to look after my own mental health. This was the last correspondence I ever had with her. 

Laura had previously shared how honoured she felt to take over from Caroline on Love Island, however the presenter’s mother Christine has previously appeared to take swipes at her

‘I really did hope she was somewhere lovely. A spa/retreat/rehab. I never knew the extent of her struggles or what was to come.

‘The last message from her to me were love hearts. I’d like to think wherever she is now, she’s at peace and somewhere lovely like I hoped.’

Laura has herself suffered online abuse with people commenting unpleasantly about images she had publicised of her baby as she went back to work on the ITV2 panel show Celebrity Juice.

In reaction, she wrote: ‘Support other women, it doesn’t knock you – in fact it empowers you. Just a thought.’

Laura had previously shared how honoured she felt to take over as Love Island host following her death, hoping that presenting the show would be a fitting tribute to her pal.

However, Caroline’s mother Christine appears to view the situation in a wholly different light and, in a 2021 interview, she hit out at friends she deemed ‘fake’ in their grief.

She also appeared to take a swipe at Laura for taking the Love Island hosting gig, referring to her only as ‘the girl that’s taken her place’.

Christine also accused ITV bosses of a ‘lack of respect’ for axing Caroline from hosting Love Island in the wake of her arrest for ᴀssaulting her boyfriend Lewis.

She told The Sun: ‘I watched Love Island because Carrie was in it. Now, it’s horrible when the advert comes up and the girl that’s taken her place is all in almost the same dress, in almost the same pose. 

‘I think ITV2 could have done it a little differently. They could have done it out of respect.’

Christine went onto take aim at those who claim they were close to Caroline and expressed their grief publicly, insisting that her daughter’s true close friends in showbiz were Natalie Pinkham and Dawn O’Porter.

She added: ‘It’s hard. I saw someone on the telly this week calling her a friend and it really hurt.’

Since her exit Love Island three years ago, Laura has pivoted her career towards acting and more hard-hitting topics, hosting the BBC Sounds podcast Murder They Wrote with her husband Iain.

The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony in Dubin in 2020, and they welcomed their daughter together in 2021. 

She was also once a co-host of the I’m A Celebrity spin-off Get Me Out Of Here Now! and fronted the short-lived ITV2 series Survival Of The Fittest in 2018, 

Since leaving Love Island, Laura appeared in the low-budget play 2:22 A Ghost Story, and next month she’s set to perform in Apex Predator at London’s Hampstead Theatre.

In June, Laura will also star in a theatre adaptation of The Girl On The Train, based on the best-selling 2015 novel of the same name.