As she says, it’s not easy to pull off “looking like it’s natural when you have three voices talking in your ear”.
But while her broadcasting career, from MTV to presenting This Morning and Love Island to I’m A Celebrity, has traded on her unaffected charm, the Irish-born north Londoner insists it’s no different to acting – which she’s about to do at Hampstead Theatre.
“Each TV show is a different version of myself. The Laura of MTV or I’m a Celebrity is different to the Laura of Love Island or the Laura at home, picking up my daughter from nursery.
“When you’re working, a relative might have passed away, you are juggling a million things, but you have to leave stuff in the dressing room and do what you have to do.”
Luckily the Dubliner seems to thrive on it.
“I love the feeling of doing things, live and I love storytelling – finding out about different people’s lives, whether that’s interviewing someone or playing a character.”
After a stint in 2:22 A Ghost Story, and filming her first feature film, Whitmore was open to more dramatic roles when she read the script for John Donnelly’s Apex Predator.
“When this came up I was filming a documentary, and thought ‘it’s a five-week run in North London, I live in North London, am I going to make it work?’
“But when I read the play it was like nothing I had ever read before. I had to make it work!”
There’s a supernatural twist to the tale of stressed out mum Mia with a new baby and a son being bullied at school. Whitmore plays enigmatic teacher Anna, who suggests an unorthodox solution that turns prey into hunter.
“It’s a wild trip,” Whitmore enthuses.
“But isn’t that what you want from a night out? Plus it’s two really strong female roles which is lovely to see. That strength to f*** the system.”
The 39-year-old describes Mia as struggling in a way that is “apt for the world we live in right now”.
“She feels isolated and out of control and is trying to get through life as a new mum, but she’s scared of everything.
“Living in London she doesn’t feel safe walking down the street at night. The question is, how far will she go to protect her children, and what would we be capable of if we weren’t afraid?”
Whitmore loves the “shifting power play” of the women’s friendship.
“People who have their sh** together and appear strong and confident are often the ones suffering inside,” she observes.
“Anna may not be all she seems, there’s a darker side to her, and a vulnerability, but the most important thing is she helps unleash a stronger side of Mia.
“We live in a world where people are always having a go at you, then there’s someone else telling you you have the potential for brilliance, it has lovely elements of women helping other women.”
Whitmore, who lives with comic Iain Stirling and their four-year-old daughter, relates to the play’s riff on primal instincts. In rehearsals she’s been sharing her experience of motherhood with Sophie Melville, who plays Mia, and says “it’s almost therapeutic.”
“We think of new mothers as weak and flappy but they are actually probably at their strongest. Look at the animal kingdom. Do not stand on the wrong side of a mother protecting her offspring. If anyone came near my child or was to be to be a danger to them then ‘Oh My God!'”
She’s always spoken out on women’s issues, and says “That’s what all women do, or should do. I was raised by a single mother who worked full time and I have a huge respect for the women in my life, and the women who came before me.
“I think I am doing the bare minimum by saying anything, working with charities. I’m lucky to have the opportunity and a platform where people listen to me.”
But one thing irks her: “The question I get asked, as opposed to my husband, is ‘are you going to go back to work?’ He would happily stay at home and I love working.
“I get it. You feed the baby and carry it in your body, but some of those questions could be asked of men.”
Whitmore’s career has ranged from modelling to presenting to hosting a chat show, a documentary series, and a true crime podcast with Stirling.
She’s currently rehearsing for another theatre run in The Girl on A Train and recently had to bow out of presenting Celebrity Apprentice because of her packed schedule.
“I like to keep myself on my toes,” she says.
“Live TV, which is probably the most exciting thing to do, but that’s the same for theatre – I’ve just done my first film, which was fun, but you don’t get the same buzz as with a live audience.
“I have always loved theatre. When I moved to London 10 years ago I was so excited living in this city with so much happening. I feel lucky to be able to come into a beautiful theatre and be creative and play and call it work.
“To balance that with other things is something I never take that for granted.
“If I had asked a younger version of myself whether this is what I would be doing, I would have said ‘no, never!'”
Apex Predator runs at Hampstead Theatre from Saturday March 22 to Saturday April 26.
