Love Island star Dami Hope has weighed in on host Laura Whitmore quitting the hit ITV2 dating show and said who he thinks should replace her.
The Irish microbiologist gushed about the TV presenter’s role as host, describing her as “amazing” in the job during a recent interview, following her shock announcement earlier this week.
The 37-year-old took to Instagram on Monday evening to share the news with fans, saying she had decided to step back from the role she initially only intended to do for a year.
Dami told Cosmopolitan: “I actually feel like she really held it down. She did a great job. She's an amazing host.
“Every time she walked in we were all like, ‘oh my god, it's Laura Whitmore!’ Even though we've seen her like 500 times, we still get excited when we see her.
“Her presentation skills, just the way she does it, she cues herself up perfectly to be funny, serious. She nails it perfectly, so it's a pity.”
Dami then went on to talk about why she might have decided to step back from hosting the show, saying: “I feel like she has more stuff she wants to get into, because I saw she did a movie recently, so maybe she's trying to get into proper acting.
“Just build her career in a different way. It's good, you want to step out and do more things for yourself.”
Dami went on to say that he would “give it to the Ekin stans” and back his co-star from the eighth series of Love Island Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu for the job.
He said: “Lets just give it to Ekin-Su, because I know you guys love that one. We'll give it to Ekin-Su. She is the drama queen.”
The task ahead of ITV bosses to replace Laura’s hosting role has already prompted rife speculation as fans guessed at who the new face of the series could be.
The soap actress and this year's Love Island winner is among the names suggested to replace Laura Whitmore, with bookmaker Coral putting the 28-year-old at the top of the bets, with her odds slashed from 8-1 to 2-1.
Earlier this week, Laura shocked Love Island fans when she wrote on Instagram: "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."
