Why is Laura Whitmore not on Love Island 2021?

With the return of Love Island comes the return of all the best Love Island memes and theories about which of our Love Island line-up will have their head turned. But there is something missing from this year’s show and it’s leaving fans puzzled and asking—where is Laura Whitmore?

Laura Whitmore has been the Love Island host since the first winter series of Love Island in 2020, after taking over from the late Caroline Flack. 

What often makes an episode so dramatic is when you see Laura’s slo-mo walk into the villa and you know trouble is coming for the blissfully unaware couples. It’s either a recoupling or dumping from a public vote, followed by Ian Stirling’s “Tomorrow night…”  

• How long does Love Island last?

So far, we’ve seen Laura for about 12 minutes—and it’s week three! It’s safe to say Love Island fans are missing her, as some of the most memorable moments of the show come when she enters the villa.

One fan on Twitter wrote: “Anyone else forget Laura Whitmore hosts this? #LoveIsland”

Another tweeted: “We haven’t seen Laura Whitmore since the first episode I just realised???”

And a third said: “Is Laura Whitmore actually the host of @LoveIsland? I’m so confused as she’s not on the show”.

Her husband Ian Stirling is still supplying us with his hilarious commentary in each episode, and Laura herself is still hosting the Aftersun show, where she interviews dumpees as they leave.

An ITV spokesperson confirmed to The Sun that this is not actually unusual. They said: “It is very standard of Love Island to see the host appear sporadically. As with recent series, the host doesn’t appear in every episode.”

So perhaps as the stakes get higher and we draw closer to the end we’ll see more appearances from Laura—and of course, she should be walking in soon to announce the eagerly awaited return of Casa Amor...