Laura Whitmore reveals exactly why she quit Love Island

Laura Whitmore has revealed why she’s decided to step down as host of Love Island.

Fresh from the end of last year’s summer season, Laura took to social media to reveal she would not be presenting the latest winter run.

Laura wrote to her followers: “Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love island. There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.

“I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into 3 series. I hope I did you proud Caroline.”

A spokesperson for Love Island said in a statement: “Laura has been a fantastic host across the last three series of the show.

“We are so grateful for everything she has brought to the programme but understand and respect her decision, and we look forward to working with her on upcoming ITV projects.”

Now in a new interview with the Evening Standard, Laura has expanded on her reasons of quitting.

She said: “[Love Island] is a show that I love to watch, and I always want to work on shows that I enjoy.

“But there’s nothing more that I can do with it. There are parameters. When you work on the show, you can’t really talk about certain things. But I’m really proud of what I did, and proud to leave on what I think has been a brilliant series, with great winners.”

In a separate interview with the Sunday Times, she added: “I hate having anything I’m not allowed to say. I couldn’t ask Love Islanders if they were okay. It is hard. Your face is the front of the show but I am one tiny person and have no producing role so I couldn’t say if I didn’t think something was okay.

“If your child is watching, maybe you should watch it with them and have a conversation. A friend watched with her daughter and told her that it is not okay to say certain things.

“I question things a lot, even if I don’t do it publicly, people would rather I didn’t. It’s difficult doing that when you work on the show.”

Laura first took over the helm of Love Island in January 2020, stepping in for Caroline Flack. Following Caroline’s tragic death, Laura returned to host the show in 2021 and 2022.

Maya Jama is the new host of the show, currently airing nightly at 9PM on ITV2 and ITVX.