Laura Whitmore Hits Back At Ex Contestant Who Claimed She Got Love Island Job Because Of Husband

25 April 2022, 11:59

By Capital FM

@CapitalOfficial

Laura Whitmore has hit back at claims by an ex-Islander that she only bagged the role of presenter on Love Island due to her husband Iain Stirling's connections.

Laura Whitmore has responded to a former Love Island contestant’s claims that she is “not a great host”.

Rachel Finni, an islander from the 2021 series, criticised the dating show’s presenter during an interview on Murad Merali's YouTube channel, claiming that Laura booked the Love Island gig out of 'nepotism'.

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The seventh season contestant speculated that Whitmore only became the host of the hit ITV series due to her relationship with Iain Stirling, the narrator and instantly recognisable voice of the show. Laura has appeared in the series since 2020 after taking over from Caroline Flack.

Iain Stirling has been working on the hit show since 2015, he began dating Laura two years later and the pair married in 2020. They welcomed their first child together in March 2021.

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Once the 36-year-old star caught wind of the comments she quickly shut them down, writing to her Instagram stories soon after: “I never got a job because of a guy I dated.”

Speaking in the interview with Murad Merali, Rachel Finni expressed her disappointment at the choice of a new host in 2020, she said: "I'm kind of gutted Laura Whitmore is hosting it though, I thought we'd get a nice Maya Jama or AJ Odudu.”

The reality star then made her claim about Laura’s showbiz ties: "The benefits you get from being married to the narrator.

"'Cause she's not a great host," Rachel claimed.

Finni, who coupled up with Brad McClelland as a bombshell in the last season of Love Island, labelled the career move as ‘nepotism’ during her interview.

Laura further cleared up any confusion on her Instagram story, she said: "I'm not going to give too much energy to it because there's always stuff like this and you kind of just brush it off but I think we need to be careful when we discuss women and their work.

"I’ve worked in telly for 14 years, I won a competition to be the face of MTV and I stayed working from job to job,” Whitmore explained.

“I’ve done incredible things all over the world, worked with the best teams,” the presenter said, “but I’ve never got a job because of a guy that I’ve dated."

Rachel is yet to respond to Laura's Instagram posts about her interview comments.

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