Laura Whitmore: It doesn’t matter what your job is, we are all trying to get our heads around parenthood

TV and stage celebrity Laura Whitmore has just finished recording the chart-topping true crime podcast she presents with her husband, Edinburgh’s own comedian and Love Island narrator Iain Stirling, when P.S. Zooms in.

She’s lucky, she says. They have a studio in their London home, which is all the better for juggling care of their only child Stevie Ré, who will soon turn four and will be off to school in the summer.

With Iain, 37, back in the studio to do the voiceover for the Bafta-winning ITV show formerly presented by Laura and watched by millions of viewers, we settle down to chat, only to be interrupted by Mick Jagger.

“He usually sits on my knee when we record,” she laughs, scooping up the 10-year-old fluffy white pooch she named after the Rolling Stones lead singer.

A hectic schedule

Life is a whirlwind in the Whitmore-Stirling household. The couple will later this month be heading to Aberdeen’s Granite Noir festival, where on February 20 they will present a live version of their BBC podcast Murder They Wrote, in which they dive into some of the most jaw-dropping cases in true crime history.

Hard on its heels is law graduate Iain’s UK stand-up comedy tour from February 28 to April 20, which includes dates in Paisley, Stirling, and Grangemouth. Laura, 39, is also due to set off on a 10-week tour with West End stage show The Girl on The Train based on the novel written by Paula Hawkins, who is also making an appearance at Granite Noir.

The show, in which Laura plays the lead, Rachel Watson, will see her return to the Granite City and make a first visit to Inverness.

She smiles: “I have been to Scotland loads, even before I was married to a Scottish man. My best friend studied in Glasgow.”

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The Dublin-born lass was raised by her strong single mum Carmel, and graduated from Dublin City University with a first-class degree in journalism, going on to gain a place at Rada, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

But she reveals it was in Glasgow that she applied for and landed her first big break in TV despite being up against 3,000 other hopefuls. “I had Hogmanay in Glasgow 15 years ago. I was visiting my friend in student accommodation and uploading this little video in the competition to be the face of MTV. I ended up winning,” she grins.

“I’m also going to be doing The Girl on the Train play. I did it in the West End a few years ago and I am now doing a 10-week run including Aberdeen and Inverness.

“Life is a juggle,” says Laura, who is also the face of the ITV documentary series Laura Whitmore Investigates. “One of the reasons I am doing the play in the summer months is so that I won’t have to take our daughter out of school, and we can work it together. When I did the West End, it was 18 weeks. It worked out well because I had my child during the day and at her bedtime I’d go to the theatre.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s a logistic nightmare, but the priority for Iain and me is always going to be our child.”

Working from home

Lockdown, she says, “changed everything”, allowing them to work from home. “We have separate offices, and we have a podcast studio which saves us time on commuting and is handy when you have a small child who, like all small children, can sometimes be sick and can’t go to nursery or school.

“Iain is currently in a room over there,” she nods in his direction, “doing Love Island. We were trying to record the podcast at the beginning of January when everyone had colds and sniffles and Frozen was playing in the next room because she couldn’t go to nursery that day. You could hear it in the background.

“There’s a lot of juggling. Sometimes you go to the nursery pick-up and you’re in a ball gown.

“It doesn’t matter what your job is, we are all trying to get our heads around parenthood.

“I love working and the opportunities I have, but it is bloody hard. I have done things at crazy hours to make it work around her bedtimes.

“That’s partly why I love the podcast, because that’s when I see Iain. We can actually sit down and say: ‘How are you, how’s life?’. We just recorded a podcast this morning. Two people who had written in and who are going through chemotherapy were saying how much they loved our podcast as escapism and that it is really helping them get through it. I felt emotional about it because something positive is coming out of something that is quite dark.”

© Alexandra Cameron

But with the dark comes the light. Also known for I’m A Celebrity, Celebrity Juice and her own ITV breakfast show, Laura also wrote and starred in the award-winning short film Sadhbh (2019) and her debut as a non-fiction author with No One Can Change Your Life Except For You was a bestseller.

Last year she was part of Comic Relief’s ‘Snow Way Back’ Arctic Trek, raising funds for Red Nose Day, which featured in a BBC One documentary alongside Alex Scott MBE, sports presenter and former professional women’s premier league footballer, TV personality Vicky Pattison, and Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Sara Davies.

Flying the flag

Laura has used her celebrity to promote and support various causes, particularly issues related to mental health, women’s rights, equality, and the environment. An advocate for sustainable fashion, she also has her own jewellery and clothing lines.

Laura puts her work ethic down to her upbringing. “I came from a single-parent household. I grew up as an only child, but I have two half-brothers who came when I was 13 and with whom I am really close.

“My mum was the only mum in my school group who was working a full-time job, I would go to a child minder. She probably had a lot of guilt but all I saw was this brilliant woman who had bought her own house and raised her daughter in who she instilled a work ethic.

“My mum at 70 is the youngest of 13. There are nine sisters in her family, and they are all grafters. At her birthday party they were all up on the dance floor whizzing around while me and my cousins couldn’t keep up. This is the background I came from – the women just get on with it, and that mentality has stuck with me. If you want something you have to get it for yourself.

“I came to London at 23 and bought my first property there at 26. When people say: ‘You are flying the flag for Ireland,’ it means so much to me. I am so proud to be Irish.”

In the future she would like to do more writing, acting and producing. But of all her achievements, the greatest she says, is becoming a mum. “I am very blessed. The best thing I ever did was motherhood, but it is the hardest thing I have ever done. And if anything, it just makes me more ambitious, more appreciative of time and of giving my time to the right things.”

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Festival’s killer guest list

Granite Noir takes its name from the event’s home of Aberdeen, also known as the Granite City. A love letter to crime fiction in all its forms, the festival from February 20 to 23 spotlights a host of top talent.

As well as podcast stars Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling, global bestselling author Paula Hawkins and New York Times bestsellers Lucy Foley and Chris Whitaker will make headline appearances at the festival, organised by Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA).

Paula will talk about her new thriller The Blue Hour and will also introduce a screening of The Girl on the Train, the film adaptation of her debut thriller.

And Laura and Iain won’t be the only husband-and-wife duo at Granite Noir. Nicci French, the pen name of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, whose books have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, and Ambrose Parry, aka Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman, will discuss their latest novels in Partners in Crime.

APA chief executive Sharon Burgess said: “Granite Noir sets out each year to celebrate the best in crime writing. This year we are putting the festival on a global stage, with many events being livestreamed so that no matter where you are in the world, you can be part of a wonderful weekend of gory, gritty and glorious fun!”

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Granite Noir runs from February 20-23. For details click here.