TV and radio presenter Laura Whitmore has refuted accusations her new podcast is promoting careers in the British Army.
The Dublin-born Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore, whose partner is Scottish comedian and presenter Iain Stirling, spoke out after moving to remove an 'Army jobs' and an 'ad' hash tag when plugging the first of the British Army podcast series.
It comes in the wake of a social media row over the BBC 5Live presenter's involvement in the podcast which some believed was acting as a Army jobs promotion. Both the presenter's name and the British Army were trending on social media across the UK.
The 35-year-old who is also a BBC 5Live presenter went on the defensive after coming under fire on social media for the podcast which focuses on what it is like to be female in a male-dominated industry - the Army.
The British Army's plugs of the podcast online have come on its job application portal, and other promotions are on pages with invites to fill in a job application.
The description states: "Being fit, strong and healthy is meant to bolster your confidence and make you feel amazing, so why is it that gym culture is causing so many people to feel bad about themselves?
"Listen to our brand new podcast. This episode sees soldier Ella explains how her successful career in boxing – both in the Army and outside of it – has given her an incredible sense of confidence in her physical capabilities and in her ability to lead and train others, even in a traditionally male environment."
Ms Whitmore told one critic: "Apologies if it looks like I'm recruiting or something mad like that! Just a conversation as I think it's important to have with anyone you don't understand. And always important to listen to people's lived experiences. It's how we all learn."
Her Instagram promotion for the show stated: "Really pleased to share the first episode of the @britisharmy podcast series The Locker. Hear me talk about all things confidence, body positivity, being female in a male dominated industry and overcoming insecurities with the inspiring Ella, a soldier in the British Army."
She agreed to change her promotion after it was pointed that she had used the Army jobs hashtag.
She said:"Elle who I speak to has an army job. Though totally see the confusion so I’ll change!"
Later she said: "I was asked to be a guest on a podcast talking about body issues and being a female in a male dominated industry. As I have done a lot in the past. The other guest was a young female soldier. If this looked like me trying to recruit people to the army that is not the case at all.
"I know to those who actually listen to the podcast they’ll understand but in case there’s any confusion I wanted to clear it up."
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