Laura Whitmore has had a monumental career shift over the past five years, ditching her glittering TV career to play to theatre audiences of just 300.
After kicking off her showbiz CV with a reporter job for MTV, she hit the big time with the coveted Love Island role, presenting the the ITV series from 2020 to 2022, after taking over from Caroline Flack.
But Laura suddenly quit the hit show, which can still command an audience of millions, after just three seasons explaining that she found certain elements of the show ‘difficult’.
She later slammed ITV bosses, claiming that she that she was forced to ‘stay quiet’ when it came to sharing her opinions with the islanders, and revealing that the became frustrated with the ‘parameters’ of her role.
Since parting ways with the ITV juggernaut, Laura has taken a huge step back from the telly spotlight.
She tried to maintain her relationship with ITV, fronting a short-lived chat show Laura Whitmore’s Breakfast Show but it was cancelled after just a few months, whilst her Prime Video series Date My Mate was also axed after one series.
Laura Whitmore has had a monumental career shift over the past five years, turning her back on her glittering TV career to tread the boards
After starting her career on the red carpet for MTV, she hit the big time with Love Island job, presenting the the ITV series from 2020 to 2022, after taking over from Caroline Flack
The star has since filmed documentaries and expressed her relief at being a producer on her ITVX series Laura Whitmore Investigates, after having previously just been ‘the face’ of television projects.
She admitted at the time that she saw the move as her way of ‘reclaiming my power,’ after having been ‘frustrated’ over having ‘no control’ over the shows she worked on.
But to date the series has only aired three episodes.
The latest career move has since Laura turn to the theatre. In 2022, shortly after quitting Love Island she made her West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story – a production that has become more well known for its neverending cast changes than it has for its glittering reviews.
This summer she will lead a touring production of The Girl On The Train which will follow a month at the Hampstead theatre, conveniently located a stones’ throw from her North London home, for a new play titled Apex Predator.
The intimate surroundings of Hampstead Theatre, which has a 325 seat capacity is a far cry from the three million viewers her old show Love Island regularly attracted.
Laura has been open about her reasons for taking on the theatre work, recently revealing it’s all down to family logistics and her role as mum to four-year-old daughter Stevie.
During her starring role in Apex Predator, Laura’s husband Iain will be on the road for his UK stand-up comedy tour, before she heads out around the country for The Girl On The Train.
Since parting ways with the ITV juggernaut, Laura has taken a huge step back from the telly spotlight
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)
This summer she will lead a touring production of The Girl On The Train, treading the boards in local venues for a ten week run across Scotland and Ireland
Laura has been open about her reasons for taking on the theatre work, recently revealing it’s all down to family logistics and her role as mum to four-year-old daughter Stevie
‘Life is a juggle,’ she told The Sunday Post this month. ‘One of the reasons I am doing the play in the summer months is so that I won’t have to take our daughter out of school, and we can work it together. When I did the West End, it was 18 weeks. It worked out well because I had my child during the day and at her bedtime I’d go to the theatre.’
‘I’m not going to lie, it’s a logistic nightmare, but the priority for Iain and me is always going to be our child.’
‘I love working and the opportunities I have, but it is bloody hard. I have done things at crazy hours to make it work around her bedtimes.
Whilst the back to back theatre productions may be convenient, Laura is most likely on a significantly lower salary than the bumper pay she received as a Love Island host.
It’s reported that stage stars can earn around £1,430 a week depending on audiences, say experts at What’s On Stage whilst Laura was at one point rumoured to be paid £600,000 for Love Island, a figure she later denied.
For now at least Laura has less lofty ambitions than banking millions, admitting her ‘hardest’ role yet has been motherhood, with her daughter drastically refocusing her outlook, as she declares: ‘It makes more appreciative of time and of giving my time to the right things.’
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