“I don’t like attacking people but we need to call people out when they do things like this.”
Laura Whitmore, who succeeded the late Caroline Flack as the presenter of Love Island, posted a statement on her Twitter page today, addressing an incident in which she and her boyfriend Iain Stirling were photographed against their will at Cape Town airport.
Whitmore also uploaded a video that Stirling took of the photographer.
In her statement, Whitmore said: “We tried to ignore it but he continued to follow us as we got coffee and left the building. So I asked him would he stop as he had what he wanted. I said we were mourning a friend and could he allow us space.”
“He said ‘can you give me a reaction. It’s a public space and I can take pictures if I want.'”
Flack died by suicide last weekend, following months of tabloid coverage regarding her trial for common assault.
“I have never courted the paparazzi but understand at work events it comes with the territory. But this morning was too much. Iain filmed him and he didn’t like it,” Whitmore wrote.
“I don’t like attacking people but we need to call people out when they do things like this. Iain and I just wanted some privacy.”
It was the first time that Whitmore had been reunited with Stirling, who is the narrator on Love Island, since Flack’s death.
In the video uploaded to Whitmore’s Twitter account, the photographer says: “It’s my understanding that it’s Caroline that you’re talking about. Is it somebody else that you’re talking about, have you lost a recent friend? We’ve misunderstood each other.”
The photographer walked away when he becomes aware that Stirling is filming, and continued photographing the couple.
Whitmore’s statement can be read in full below:
— Laura Whitmore ⚡️ (@thewhitmore) February 20, 2020
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