‘Emotional’ Laura Whitmore reflects on multitasking as Love Island host and mum to four-month-old baby ahead of final

Laura is gearing up for the Love Island final (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/REX/Shutterstock)

Laura Whitmore is ‘feeling emotional’ ahead of tonight’s Love Island final, as she reflected on presenting the reality show through a pandemic.

Tonight will see either Millie Court and Liam Reardon, Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran, Kaz Kwami and Tyler Cruickshank, or Faye Winter and Teddy Soares crowned 2021 champions and winners of that £50,000 prize.

Laura, 36, has only appeared on a handful of episodes this series due to various travel restrictions, but she is back in Majorca to host the live final from the villa.

Hours before the big show, the Irish presenter shared a picture to Instagram in which she cradled her four-month-old daughter, believed to be called Stevie Ré, who she shares with husband Iain Stirling.

Laura wrote: ‘Multitasking! Just had our final @loveisland script read and cannot wait for the Live Final tonight! Just want to take a moment before the madness of tonight and say to get this far hasn’t been easy. Feeling emotional. The last few months have been full on. 

‘Getting through fronting the biggest show on the telly means you are faced with daily pressures on and off tv, filming and flying during Covid, media intrusion, being a mother, breastfeeding exclusively, pcr tests, allowing your body to heal, getting that pelvic floor back (she ain’t back quite yet!), constant judgement, looking after your mental health… just surviving each day on a manic schedule is tough. Balancing lots of different work and just trying to do the best you can do. 

‘I love all my jobs but I’m also only one person. Thank you to my team, those around me who made it all happen. The late night fittings, the working around feeding times, the juggle. To those who lift and don’t tear down, thank you. 

‘To my support network, I couldn’t have done this year without you. And to myself, you did it! Don’t ever tell me I can’t do something. I will prove you wrong… and to our islanders thank you for keeping us entertained. We’ve all needed it.’

Love Island’s narrator Iain, 33, commented: ‘The girl I would like to couple up with is…’, while 2020 islander Shaughna Phillips wrote: ‘It was a lot to read, let alone do! And you’ve smashed it yet again, gonna miss it! Until next year.’

Laura was present in the villa for the first coupling ceremony and has returned for key dumpings and twists, while she has hosted Aftersun back in the UK.

Laura and Iain welcomed their daughter in March (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Gentlemans Journal & Bicester Village)

When in Spain, Laura brings her daughter and is accompanied by her mother, who helps out when Laura is on set.

The Celebrity Juice star told The Times: ‘The baby is well travelled. I’m lucky that my mum comes out with me and that a lot of the stuff at the villa is at night-time, so the baby’s asleep at that stage and so she’s not hanging around too much.’

The former MTV presenter took over as Love Island presenter for last year’s winter edition, after then-host Caroline Flack stepped down following her assault charge.

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While the series was on air, Flack took her own life at the age of 40 on February 15, 2020. 

Laura’s comedian husband Iain has been narrator on the show since its return to our screens in 2015. 

Love Island airs tonight on ITV2 at 9pm. 

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