Laura Whitmore: Episode 20

The Breifne Earley Show

It's a very exciting week for the Breifne Earley Show as I'm joined by an old friend, TV Presenter & Actor Laura Whitmore, to talk about her eclectic career in a rare long form interview. Laura talks about her life and career and why treading the boards as Cleo Morey in the stage version Peter James' Not Dead Enough isn't as much of a career shift as it seems, growing up in Bray, Co. Wicklow and going to drama lessons to survive being shy and finding her calling there. We discuss her big break on MTV through winning "Pick Me MTV" and finding herself still working for them almost a decade after the year's contract expired. Laura talks about how her journalism degree and professional experience in radio was the key to taking that opportunity with both hands. She also shares her experience of losing control as part of "Strictly", dealing with the tabloid media around her personal life, taking part in the bushtucker trials on "I'm A Celebrity", how real life doesn't really compare with social media and how important it is not to give away all of yourself and to protect yourself and your privacy. Laura explains how nice it is to have songs written about you, how obvious it is that people assume she's had a relationship with every man she's pictured with or linked to, being star struck by Gay Byrne and Glen Hansard while taking Coldplay and P Diddy in her stride, learning by doing on stage with her leading man Shane Ritchie and the pressures of the business side of the theatre and being responsible for putting bums on seats, her love of Murder She Wrote. Laura also reveals to Breifne about meeting the nicest people on the street who continue to wish her well with "Aren't you doing great?", dealing with people's preconceptions about who she is, what's next for her and whether she'd be interested in progressing her acting chops into movies or busting out her singing voice. To access the archive of episodes from the show, subscribe to "The Breifne Earley Show" in itunes or through your favourite Podcast Apps. (links below) https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-breifne-earley-show/id1075121394?mt=2 http://www.breifneearley.com/podcast/