Laura Whitmore explains why she really left Love Island

"There was only so much I could do as a host."

Laura Whitmore has shared more about her decision to leave her job as the host of Love Island. The Irish TV presenter took over the role from Caroline Flack in 2020, and continued until this year. She announced she was stepping down from the role a few months ago before Maya Jama was revealed to be her successor. At the time, Laura hinted at a number of issues within the show as the reason behind her leaving, including the stress of travel while having a very young child. Now that the dust has settled on her departure, she spoke about how she was limited by the rules of Love Island. In a recent interview with Psychologies Magazine, she admitted that she struggled with not being able to support the contestants during stressful eliminations. "There was only so much I could do as a host," she said. "I couldn't support or not support them." She went on: "So you kind of have to go quiet, and that was hard for me because I like to be able to have those conversations." She added that if she was allowed to do things the way she wanted to, she would have kept the job. This isn't the first time Laura has addressed this element of the show. In a previous interview with The Sunday Times, Laura spoke about how she was limited in her interactions with the islanders. She said: "When they were in the villa, sometimes I wanted to ask if they were OK and couldn’t. But I wouldn’t have done anything differently." Laura added that as she was not a producer, she wasn't able to speak up if she "didn't think something was OK". "I am one tiny person and have no producing role," she said.

Related links:

• Laura Whitmore reveals she wasn't allowed to ask Love Island contestants if they were okay
• Maya Jama is officially the new host of Love Island