Yahoo Movies Laura Whitmore Hits Back At Love Island Pay Claims
This year marks Laura's third as Love Island host (Photo: ITV/Shutterstock)
Laura Whitmore has hit back at claims about how much she is paid for hosting Love Island.
Nearly four weeks into the series, the presenter has only appeared in the opening episode where the Islanders were coupled up for the first time.
This sparked an article in The Sun on Thursday evening, titled “Love Island’s Laura Whitmore has appeared for just 14 minutes all series despite earning £600k,” which was followed up by various other outlets.
They noted how this supposedly meant Laura had earned £744 a second for her appearances on the main show.
Responding on her Instagram Story, Laura said: ”£744 a second! I feel sorry for whoever was made attempt the ridiculous maths based on nothing but speculation [sic].”
She jokingly added: “Lads I’ve made 10k whilst writing this story!”
Laura has only appeared in the villa once so far this series (Photo: ITV/Shutterstock)
Laura then reposted a TikTok video she shared ahead of the series launch, in which she responded to past comments about her, including one that said she has the “easiest job on the telly” and “gets paid 50K a minute”.
Pointing out that commentary about her earnings could be rooted in sexism, she said: “Firstly, Iain [Stirling, the show’s narrator] has never had any attention on money he earns. Why don’t we like women earning money?
“I bloody wish I earned what was written in the press. I only get paid on days I work.”
Responding to the idea she’s “never in” the villa, Laura added: “It’s the same EVERY YEAR! This story is exhausting. Producers can mix up WHEN I go in as a surprise.”
@thewhitmore Getting all of this out of the way now ahead of a summer of love so we can spend our time talking about the real juicy stuff 💓 #loveisland
♬ Love Island - Fatboy Slim
Laura then shared a series of similar headlines about her Love Island predecessor, the late Caroline Flack, adding: “It’s easier to ignore things but when you’ve seen it happen to women in the past and people just don’t learn, it’s important to call it out.
“Because constantly printing articles like this generates online hate.”
Laura also hosts Love Island: Aftersun (Photo: Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock)
As well as hosting the main show, Laura also presents companion series Aftersun, which airs every Sunday.
She is also likely to be seen in the villa next week as the show’s famous Casa Amor kicks off.
Love Island airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.
