Laura Whitmore's turbulent love life from 'fun' with Leonardo DiCaprio to dating rock band frontman
Irish TV star Laura Whitmore has an impressive dating history, despite once being 'terrified' of boys.
The media sensation, who is also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF has seemingly done it all. She's a Sunday Times bestseller, will soon be making her West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story, and has been with partner Iain Stirling since 2017 (technically making them the best
But growing up attending a Catholic all-girls school, Whitmore admitted that she was once scared of male attention and can remember being taught sex education by a nun (that'll do it). But after shooting to fame, the celeb has had her fair share of whirlwind romances as well as the odd 'walk of shame'.
Laura told BBC documentary Losing My Religion: "I went to a convent secondary school and had sex education taught by a nun - looking back, probably not the best person to learn about sex from!" The TV presenter was 19 years old when she lost her virginity to her first love, describing the encounter as "fine".
"You know, it was as good as it could've been," she previously told Hot Press magazine. "It was in a sh***y little bed in my student accommodation in DCU - classy! But I think we attempted to do it the week before and it didn't go so well." And while she's always swerved one-night stands, admitting the sex is much better with a long-term partner, she's still "probably done a few walks of shame - from the same house a few times".
Back in the mid-2000s, MTV presenter Laura was linked to many well-known faces, including model David Gandy, singer Paulo Nutini and Bodyguard star Richard Madden. She dated Coronas frontman Danny O'Reilly for three years, Sunset Suns star Rory Williams for 18 months and was even linked to Leonardo DiCaprio at the 2016 BAFTAs.
The pair were seen chatting and whispering into each other's ears at an after-party at London's Rosewood hotel that February, with sources claiming Leo was "completely taken" by the Irish beauty. "She was playing it cool but he made a beeline for her and they instantly started flirting," an onlooker claimed to The Sun. "Leo made it clear he wanted her to come back upstairs to his suite at the hotel to continue the party afterwards."
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Laura - who was hosting the red carpet for EE - apparently headed back to his plush suite at around 3.30am along with several others - but she was the only one Leo was interested in. "He was all over Laura until after 5am. At one point he held her face in his hand," the insider said. At the time, Laura was dating rocker Rory and insisted everything had been above board.
"Everyone was just having fun - there was a lot of dancing," she told Hello! magazine. And speaking to The Mirror, she admitted the gossip had put a strain on her relationship. Laura said: "I promise I didn't stay in Leo's room all night! All this attention has not been easy because I am going out with someone."
Then in 2017, she was introduced to Iain and the pair kept their relationship on the down-low for months, with Laura even sneaking out to Majorca to spend time with him during the show. "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," she told JD's In The Duffle Bag podcast. The pair went on to marry in 2020 before welcoming a child together, daughter Stevie Rae.
A version of this story was first published on November 27, 2023.
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