"You need to be able to grieve in whatever way you can."

Laura Whitmore has opened up about her cousin's recent passing due to Covid-19. The Dublin-born presenter has detailed how her cousin, who was in his 40s, contracted the virus and passed away earlier this year. On Women's Health podcast, Going For Goal, Whitmore spoke of how the pandemic affected the grieving process, particularly for her mother. "My cousin passed away of coronavirus during lockdown," she said. "He was only in his 40s, in Ireland." "My mom was able to go to the funeral because there were twelve people allowed, but she wasn't able to hug her sister. I can't imagine what that's like. "You need to be able to grieve in whatever way you can, if that's hugs if that's with your little group of people. What do you do when that's taken away from you?" The current presenter of Love Island, Whitmore took over the gig weeks before previous host and friend Caroline Flack's passing. Laura, who now lives in London with Love Island VO Iain Stirling, said that the lockdown brought on by Covid allowed her time to grieve the loss of her friend in peace. "I think at the time I didn't deal with it because I probably wasn't in a position where I could, because I was still doing this show," she said. "I've never lost someone in my group of friends who is so young. "It's hard, I'd get tagged in something by a fan account of Caroline and I'll think it's Caroline and it's only now it's hit me that's not her." "It's okay to grieve privately if you choose to [...] I found it really difficult because it was so public. That's why lockdown was really great if I'm honest because I had that privacy and I had that time." You can listen to Laura's full interview here.