EARLY morning television viewers may have caught Irish presenter Laura Whitmore fronting a new chat show over the weekend.
The former Love Island host, who was born in Dublin but raised in Co. Wicklow, launched her new series Laura Whitmore’s Breakfast Show on ITV yesterday morning (Sunday, April 16).
The first episode saw the Irish star chat with Kiss FM DJ Jordan Banjo, of Diversity fame, and the up-and-coming Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot, who is half French.
The launch of the new show is a bucket list moment for Whitmore, who reveals this week that it’s one of many things she has “always wanted to do’…
How does it feel to have your own lifestyle show on Sunday mornings?
I can’t even think of a word to describe how I feel but it’s kind of a dream to be honest and an honour as well.
It’s something to have fun with as well, it’s a great slot and a great team that I get to work with.
Is this something you’ve always wanted to do?
Big time. There’s many things that I want to do and I’m blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to do them but this is definitely one on the bucket list.
What can viewers expect from the series?
It’s definitely personality-led.
It’s going to be a mixture of chat, a variety of artists and it's one of those shows that I like to watch on the weekend.
It’s possibly a bit more relaxed than a weekday show.
We’ve got a mixture of guests, I’m always pushing for a bit of music on the show somehow so we’ll have that in there as well.
There will be banter, there will be some issues that we’ll talk about.
We’ve had a lot of scope to play around with it, things might evolve over the weeks. Everyone’s been so lovely about working on it and being open to new ideas and trying new things.
I just want to have fun and not overthink it too much.
It’s TV to make you feel good but also interviews and chats that you’ll be able to relate to and see people that you aspire to.
Is there a particular star you’d love to have on the show with you?
One of my biggest inspirations is Drew Barrymore - I’m a huge fan.
I love her and I love her show that she does.
I’m very lucky that I met her briefly a few years ago.
I’m yet to interview her but I’d love to interview her because she interviews lots of people now too.
She’s so lovely and the span of her career and also she just seems like a laugh.
Is there a standout interview that you’ve done over the years?
I guess I’m really lucky because of the type of the shows I’ve worked on, such a range of shows, I’ve interviewed a lot of musicians which is such a dream - everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Britney Spears.
The first interview I ever did was with Coldplay.
There’s things like that which are ‘pinch me’ moments.
But then when I was doing radio, one of the first people I interviewed was Mary Robinson who is the first female president of Ireland.
She did my radio show and for me she’s such a huge inspiration as a woman and coming from my background.
So, it’s quite a wide-range and it’s difficult to pick one but I’m very lucky.
Do you still get starstruck when meeting famous faces and interviewing them?
I’m constantly being starstruck. I’m even starstruck by people I know quite well and you’re just trying to pretend you’re not and be low key about it.
It never goes away and you hope it never does.
What is your favourite way to spend a Sunday?
For the last few years, I’ve worked every Sunday.
I’ve done my radio show, I’ve just come off a four month stint on the West End where I had two shows on a Sunday, Love Island Aftersun was on Sunday.
For me, Sunday is work. All of my friends are like ‘Let’s go to the pub. Let’s have a roast.’ I haven’t done that for years.
If you could go back and give one bit of advice to your younger self what would that be?
Don’t listen to me and do what you want to do.
I’d almost not take advice from my older self because I think you need to live through the experiences.
Do you have anything on your professional bucket list?
I have many - the bucket list is long.
I feel really blessed that I’ve had so many opportunities already within this industry. Sometimes things come up that you don’t expect and you think it’s something you’ve always wanted to do and other things you strive for too.
There’s definitely other things in this space and as you evolve and grow, you want to try. Even now, one of the things on my bucket list was to do documentaries and I’ve got a documentary series coming up with ITV later in the year. It’s exciting and terrifying.
Laura Whitmore’s Breakfast Show runs on Sundays at 8.30am on ITV and ITVX
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