Laura Whitmore is used to asking the questions. But as a headline speaker for GLAMOUR's first-ever Empowerment Summit, in partnership with Samsung, Squarespace, and Tinder, she found herself in the unusual position of being interviewed – by none other than GLAMOUR's European Editorial Director, Deborah Joseph.
As a TV presenter, radio broadcaster, actor, journalist, podcaster and Sunday Times best-selling author (we could go on…), the label ‘multi-hyphenate’ doesn't quite cover Laura's vast achievements. And yet, she still finds it weird that people are so invested in her career journey. “I only interview people who are far more interesting than me, so I still feel like I'm an imposter here,” she explains.
But, as the rest of the interview unfolds, it's clear that nothing could be further from the truth. In a fascinating conversation, Laura reflects on how she got started in the media industry, her first experiences of sexism and paparazzi harassment, motherhood, and why she's enjoying her post-Love Island career pivot.
Here are all the most empowering moments from Laura Whitmore's interview at GLAMOUR's Empowerment Summit 2023:
The big break…
Laura started her career journey at Dublin City University, where she studied journalism. “I come from a small town where sometimes a lot of people don't necessarily leave,” she says. “And I just wanted to see the world.”
Her first journalism gig was as an intern on Newstalk, a national radio news show, which she describes as “so fucking hard”.
“When you go in as an intern, you're like the lowest of the low and probably treated much worse than interns are today. But I loved it because it was a learning experience and I'd do a lot of research calls, but working in a newsroom is really hard because news is not necessarily a positive thing or a good thing.”
Laura describes one particular incident where she was nervous about attending an editorial meeting and not having anything to pitch. “There was a really bad car accident on the M50 […] And in my head, I got a bit excited to be like, oh, I have something to talk about.” This thought encouraged her to take a step back. Did she really want to be in such a cutthroat environment?
“That night, I remember going home, and I remember turning on the telly and watching MTV when they were looking for the new face of MTV. I entered it – I didn't tell Newstalk what was going on.”
Obviously, she won. “My mum always says, if you're not in it, you can't win it, mainly about lotto. However, I like to take that and apply it to other parts. And I remember when I won the MTV competition, all my friends were like, what? Also, you're not cool. Why are you interviewing all these rock stars?”
On her first day at the job, Laura was flown to Los Angeles to work at the MTV Awards. It was a lot. “You learn the most by doing,” she explains. “And that's something that I've constantly. I don't want to ever be in a situation where I feel like it's easy.”
Becoming the story…
Laura moved to Camden around the time that “Amy Winehouse was living around the corner and Lily Allen was first coming on the scene.” She found herself interviewing incredible women – including Britney Spears – on a regular basis. As she got more and more jobs, including I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Now!, her own profile rose dramatically. “Suddenly, I became the story.”
While this was beneficial for her career, it was also during a particularly perilous time for women in the public eye. “I remember once getting out of a car in Camden and a photographer taking a picture up my skirt, and it ended up in the newspaper, and I was mortified. I actually got upskirted loads of times.”
“I actually got upskirted loads of times and I was so mortified…”
“I was so angry,” she reflects. "And I come from a single mother who is so strong and speaks her mind, but I remember going silent, and I never complained about it at the time because if I said it, people might look for the picture.
“Now, if someone did that, they'd be arrested because of Gina Martin's campaign to make it illegal. But back then, I thought that was fine.”
Dealing with sexism…
Laura is well-versed in the various ways men and women are treated differently in the press. “There are definitely situations where women are talked about the way my male colleagues have never been talked about,” she reflects.
“When I was pregnant and had a child, I was constantly questioned about will I go back to work? My husband [Iain Stirling] wasn't asked this.”
She also points out that while tabloids often describe her as “flaunting” her legs, the same thing has never been said about her husband. “He's got great legs, though, to be fair to him.”
Does she have advice for anyone when encountering sexism? Of course she does. “If someone says something to you that you feel is not right or uncomfortable in a workplace, tell them, call them out on it rather than accept that's the way it should be because they're not going to learn if you don't.”
On motherhood…
Laura and her husband Iain welcomed their daughter, in 2021. “It's made me better,” says Laura. “The things I can get done before 9:00 AM are honestly incredible. I'm quite impressed with myself […] It's made me value my time more.”
“I was 35 when I had her […] I definitely wasn't ready when I was 25, but it is hard. But I've had so many voices in my head telling me I can't do things. I mean, I think I'm the only person who slow-mo-walked into the Love Island while I was breastfeeding.”
“I think I'm the only person who slow-mo-walked into the Love Island while I was breastfeeding.”
“I had her with me every single step of the way. I think she's the only baby – a real baby – to have been in the villa. But I wanted to do it because there's a bit of me that I knew I couldn't just be at home. If you like your job and you're excited by it, you can do it.”
The career pivot…
Earlier this year, Laura released a three-part investigative documentary series with ITV, in which she reported on rough sex, cyber-stalking and incel culture. “I love talking to people and I love talking to people I don't agree with,” she explains.
As part of her investigation into incels, she interviewed a man called ‘Dark Cell’ who wore a mask throughout the entire interview. “It's funny because these men are very confident online, but then he didn't want to show his face. And actually, by the end of it, I felt sorry for him.”
Laura reflects, “How do we get rid of this toxic masculinity instead of saying, ‘these men are evil.’ When I questioned him, and I challenged him, he sometimes couldn't really defend himself. He was very wishy-washy in his ideas. I was like, I'm a woman. If you hate women, why are you talking to me? And then he was like, 'Oh, you're different.' He couldn't back it up.”
She has several new projects coming up – most of which she can't officially talk about yet – but she confirms that she's joined the cast of A Mother for an Hour, a Giga Agladze film about a woman who “poses as the lost mother of a dying child” (via Variety). “It's a beautiful script,” Laura says. "All the main characters are all female […] It's heartbreaking, but it also has this warmth. I love storytelling, and I think that's why I love journalism… this film is just another way to do that.
The conversation closed with a reflection on women's empowerment – this is GLAMOUR's Empowerment Summit, after all. “I feel like the word empowerment is not necessarily one place, it's a journey,” she notes.
“It's a process of trying to get strength back or give it to someone else. So it's really hard to pinpoint it because I'm still constantly trying to empower. I don't think there's ever a stage where you feel completely empowered and satisfied. It's definitely a massive learning curve.”
You can follow Laura Whitmore on Instagram at @thewhitmore.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
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