Laura Whitmore has opened up about battling her insecurities.
The Love Island host says her feelings were something she had to take into consideration when deciding whether or not to take the job.
She stepped in last year to host the first ever winter series of the ITV2 dating show when her friend Caroline Flack stepped down following her arrest.
Tragically, Caroline took her own life and was found dead at home on February 15. She was 40.
Laura opened up as she launched the second season of JD's In The Duffle Bag podcast series.
The 34-year-old said: "I’m already really aware and self-conscious of my accent. People are always going to be mean and rude, so I just choose not to look at that.
"People want to rile you up, they say something just to get a reaction but I’m too busy living my life to reply to that.
"I wouldn’t say confident and sassy... there’s a lot of insecurities there and I think that’s being human. There’s highs and lows and it’s about navigating through that.
"You know what, being in my 30s is so much better than my 20s.”
Laura admitted she had to take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to take the job hosting Love Island .
She said: "I love the show but I did have to think, 'Do I want to go back here?' because as much as I love it, I know it’s a big show and it throws you in the centre of all this media attention that I didn’t necessarily want, so you have to weigh up the good and the bad and it all came down to the fact that I love this show, so of course I wanted to do it!"
Laura also spoke about getting together with her boyfriend, comedian Iain Stirling, who provides the voiceover for Love Island, and how she's the one who asked him out.
She said: "When we first met he didn’t even hit on me, he was too nervous to hit on me! I think he was intimidated by me.
"I remember Iain was too scared to ask me out so in the end I had to ask him out. He used to send me random messages, DM me and ask me about my dog.
"It took nine months but we got there! I was like, 'let’s just go for a drink'. I think I had to make the moves on him."
* Laura Whitmore launches season 2 of JD’s In The Duffle Bag podcast series with a live International Women’s Day episode. Download from Apple, iTunes, Spotify and A-cast and leave a review to win a holiday for two to Majorca. Listen to the full podcast here .
* Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org
