LAURA Whitmore has slammed Love Island fans who claimed she couldn't host the dating show while being a new mum.
The 37-year-old presenter opened up about being relentlessly trolled during her tenure as host before quitting last summer.
The Irish star joined Love Island in 2020 and gave birth to her first baby in 2021, and said the criticism was "overwhelming" while she was trying to navigate motherhood.
Asked about how she dealt with the pressures of social media, Laura told ITV's Loose Women: "I find it quite overwhelming, because everyone has an opinion about your life. When I’m sometimes trying to work out what is the right thing for me.
"I remember when I was pregnant we were in a lockdown, I was working on Celebrity Juice, which was not ideal for a pregnant women, I was the only sober person on that show.
"I tried to hide my pregnancy for as long as possible because I wanted to get my head around it. It's a big change.
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"And as soon as it came out everyone had an opinion about what type of birth I was going to have. How much weight had you put on? Are you going to lose the weight? Are you going to need time off? Are you going to go back anddo Love Island? Because you can’t do that and have a baby.
"And these were all questions I hadn't answered myself, and it was hard."
Laura, who is married to Love Island narrator Iain Stirling, previously lashed out at fans who accused her of being "overpaid" on the hit show.
She directly addressed her haters last year and shared one comment that said: "Laura has the easiest job on the telly! She gets paid £50k a minute. It’s an outrage!"
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She replied in a video on TikTok: "Firstly, Iain has never had attention on money he earns. Why don’t we like women earning money?
"I b****y wish I earned what was written in the press! I only get paid days I work."
She also addressed nasty comments that she was "too old" for the show, saying: "I don’t plan to date the Love Islanders. I am the HOST. Age means experience and it’s a privilege."
Laura is set to host a new Breakfast Show which kicks off on Sunday.
She has also filmed an investigative documentary programme called Laura Whitmore Investigates for ITV.
Laura quit Love Island in August after presenting three series following the death of the ITV2 show’s original host, Caroline Flack.
She admitted there were “elements of the show I’ve found very difficult” when announcing her departure, hinting at potential creative differences.
In October Maya was confirmed as the new Love Island host, weeks after The Sun exclusively revealed Maya had been chosen to front it.
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