Laura Whitmore's controversial army podcast was a 'recruitment ad' for armed forces
The Love Island host caused controversy online after a podcast she did was labelled a "recruitment ad" for the armed forces
Laura Whitmore 's controversial podcast with the British Army was set up specifically to "recruit" people to the armed forces.
The Love Island host was widely criticised last month when she posted about her podcast on Instagram.
Posing up in a camouflage print T-shirt and throwing a thumbs up, Laura, 35, said she was "really pleased" to share the first episode of her podcast series The Locker.
In it, she spoke to a female soldier about working in a male-dominated industry and about body positivity and overcoming insecurities about the way her body changed as she trained more.
Now, documents released under freedom of information laws show that the podcast was set up as a recruitment ad for the army, The Times reports.
Laura was met with criticism after she shared a tweet not long after her podcast post, paying tribute to John Hume after his death.
He was a key architect of the peace process, who won a Nobel prize for helping to bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
He had died that day.
She posted "RIP John Hume" and shared a quote of his which read: "Ireland is not a romantic dream; it is not a flag; it is 4.5 million people divided into two powerful traditions.
"The solution will be found not on the basis of victory for either, but on the basis of agreement and a partnership."
Shortly afterwards, people took to Twitter to criticise Laura.
One wrote: "Very disappointed in Laura Whitmore promoting the British Army. Given our history with Britain and what that army has done to us in our not so far back history you’d think an Irish woman she’d have more cop on. "
Another posted: "It’s too early for me to get my head around Laura Whitmore’s ad for the British Army podcast, followed by a John Hume quote."
Laura responded, saying her appearance on the podcast was not intended to recruit people.
She said she was simply interested in talking about "body issues" and "being female in a male-dominated industry".
She said: "If this looked like me trying to recruit people to the army that is not the case at all.
"An Irish woman talking to a young British woman in the army about issues faced by all women shows how far we’ve come. That we are more alike than people want us to believe. Does it matter where we come from?"
The Locker podcast was created by Capita, which is a digital services and software business that has worked with The British Army, Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force for the past eight years.
Capita's website states that the purpose of its partnership with the armed forces is "single minded" and that is "to recruit tomorrow’s army today".
The podcast show notes, released to the newspaper under an FOI request, say: "The recruiting partnering project (RPP) is a partnering agreement between the British Army and Capita since 2012. Capita works hand-in-hand with the army to attract, source and select officers and soldiers (regular and reserve), to the quantity and quality that the British Army needs each year."
It continued: "The Locker podcasts are part of the RPP’s overall marketing strategy to attract applications by using a wide range of opportunities and media channels."
A spokeswoman for the British Army said that "all the influencers were briefed on the background of the campaign".
She added that they were all aware that the podcast was "a continuation of the army recruitment campaign" and that "it was an activity promoting army jobs".
Laura said in a statement to the publication that she doesn't agree with the history of the British Army and the "atrocities they have inflicted" but that she has friend and colleagues who are doctors and nurses in the army and that they are "good people".
She added that she had never been in the army and has no experience of it and would therefore never tell someone to join up.
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