Laura Whitmore has defended her interview with eliminated Love Island contestant Remi Lambert after facing criticism on social media.
During Sunday night’s instalment of the ITV2 reality show, Remi became the latest Islander to leave the villa, and later spoke to the presenter via video-link on companion show Aftersun.
Many Love Island fans picked up on the fact Remi appeared to be quite emotional during the interview, with Laura asking him if he’d be up for rapping, as he’d been heard doing during his stint in the villa.
At the end of the interview, Laura told the panel: “Everything in me just wanted to cuddle him.”
The following morning, one Love Island fan commented that Remi looked “broken” during the interview, accusing producers of asking him to rap “in bad faith” to “humiliate” him.
Laura then insisted: “Remi is a rapper and [was] asked in good faith in advance if he’d rap and prepare something which he did.
“Live telly is nerve-wrecking, believe me, so maybe he was a bit nervous but he deserved to have his time.”
Prior to this year’s Love Island launch show, Laura decided to get ahead of her usual detractors with a TikTok video addressing some of the criticism she claims to have faced every year since she took over as host.
This included comments about her salary, her decision to fly between Mallorca and the UK over the course of the series, her interview technique when she speaks to the Islanders and claims she’s “never in” the villa.
Love Island airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2.