Laura Whitmore has reflected on how becoming a mother has forced her to revaluate what is important to her.
The Irish TV star, 38, welcomed two-year-old daughter Stevie Ré with husband Iain Stirling, 36, in March 2021.
The couple are notoriously private when it comes to their child and Whitmore admits she fears for her daughter when she grows up and begins to have access to the internet and social media.
Speaking ahead of the launch of her new three-part ITV series Laura Whitmore Investigates, which sees her tackle a series of highly-charged, controversial issues including the culture of “incels”, rough sex and cyber stalkers, she said: “Having a child definitely changes your priorities and makes you more sensitive to certain subjects and maybe more sensitive to issues where people have lost a family member or child. This was something I also had to take self-care about as well.
"Also, when it comes to the online world and it’s changing so dramatically it does make me conscious that in a few years to come I’m going to have to deal with that and it’s something I can’t control. So it does make me hyper-sensitive," she admitted.
Whitmore's latest project is quite a departure from her previous gig on ITV hosting dating reality TV series Love Island, which she helmed for three series following the death of original host Caroline Flack in 2020.
The former journalist however says moving into investigative films felt like a natural progression for her.
“I started my career in a newsroom, which I both loved and hated simultaneously, because news is very rarely positive but also very important," she explained.
“So, the newsroom is something which I’ve learned from. I’ve always loved asking questions. I get to ask a wide range of people questions, from working at MTV, interviewing musicians and actors to, further on in my career, interviewing politicians, and there’s always the same key elements involved, no matter who you are interviewing. I enjoy storytelling, in all its forms, so I was happy to go back to it.
“I wasn’t sure if I was cut out to be full time in a newsroom because I find it quite emotionally exhausting because I get quite attached to stories which is something that a lot of my friends who work full time in newsrooms and news networks have to remove themselves from. But I think in documentary making its ok to be a bit more emotive, which is a bit different than doing full time news.”
Of Laura Whitmore Investigates, she says "this has been a long time coming and a space I wantedto work in again".
While currently she has only recorded the three episodes, more could follow should they do well.
“I’ve already had two ideas for two further shows so hopefully there will be more to come in different areas," she added.Laura Whitmore Investigates airs Tuesday 20, Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 February at 9pm on ITV2 and available to stream on ITVX.
