Laura Whitmore has quit her BBC Radio 5 Live show after four years
(Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)Laura Whitmore has quit her high-profile radio DJ job at the BBC to boost her growing TV career.
The Irish personality, 37, has helmed her Sunday morning programme for four years after signing up to the station in 2018.
In that time, her profile on television has gone from strength-to-strength, including landing the role of Love Island host after she took over from Caroline Flack in 2020.
It’s believed that the mum-of-one is paid £600,000 for the role which has seen her featured on screens for less than 20 minutes since the ITV2 dating show returned last month.
Heidi Dawson, controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, confirmed Whitmore’s departure and praised her contribution to the station in a statement.
It read: “Laura has made the difficult decision to leave after a brilliant four years.
“We’d like to thank her for the energy, insight and humour she has brought to this programme and look forward to working with her again in the near future.”
Meanwhile, a source told The Sun: “Love Island has given her huge exposure and a healthy pay packet, and she’s now going to exploit that to the max.
“Laura has already hinted she has other projects in the pipeline and she can’t find the time to continue with all her roles.
“So something had to go, and it’s sad for listeners that this is what’s been jettisoned as she moves onwards and upwards,” they added to the publication.
Whitmore recently teased a top secret TV project that she has been working on.
Speaing to the Standard, she said: “It’s very very different, it’s a big thing that I’ve been working on for a while; it’s awesome.”
