THE sports pundit looks hot in red as she reveals all about her dating life.
The 35-year-old ITV sports presenter, Laura Woods speaks to Fabulous’ Celebrity Editor Kelly Allen to reveal the greatest challenges she’s had to overcome in her career and her dating life.
Laura Woods dishes on career challenges and her love lifeCredit: Mark Hayman/ News Group Ltd
She is currently gearing up to present the Fifa Women’s World Cup for ITVCredit: Getty
Laura looks fresh-faced as she sits down to chat despite only getting home a few hours before from Glastonbury Festival.
The blonde beauty has recently announced she will be leaving talkSPORT’s flagship breakfast show, co-hosting alongside Ally McCoist from 6am to 10am.
She’s since gone on to scoop multiple awards for her coverage, including Best Speech Breakfast Show at the ARIAS in 2021, before recently deciding to step down. Her last show aired on June 28.
“I really tried not to cry doing the announcement, because I just didn’t want to let the emotion take over,” she admits.
“It was a really hard decision [to leave] but those hours are brutal, and I felt like it was the right time.
“People say it’s important to go out on a high, and the breakfast show is in a great place at the moment.”
Although Laura likes to keep her personal life private, she reveals that leaving the show may be beneficial to her love life.
Getting up at silly o’clock to host the breakfast show hasn’t been conducive to her love life either, and Laura has been single after splitting from former England rugby player Alex Corbisiero just before she turned 30.
She’s dated since, but hasn’t had time to pursue anything serious.
“I am single, but I’m also dating,” she says. “That’s a part of my life that I have learned to keep private.
“I don’t want to put my whole life out there for everybody to see. I want to keep some things like ‘that person’ more sacred.
“But yes, it is hard. It’s like: ‘Would you like to go for brunch… after I’ve had a nap?’” she laughs. “It’s had a massive effect on a lot of my life.”
Reminiscing on her time at talkSports and some of the biggest challenges in her career, she says: “The last time I spoke to Fabulous in 2020, I’d just started on the show and I was feeling swamped.
“It was in the middle of Covid and there was no actual sport to talk about.
“It was the biggest challenge of my career, and of my life at the time. I was living on my own and I felt very isolated, very lonely and like I couldn’t show the world what I could do with that show.
“I didn’t have any of the tools I needed, but I learned to work through it. Then sport came back. It was unbelievable — I’ve never felt anything like that. It was just such a relief.”
Having that time in that space to grow into myself and be my own person was a gift that I didn’t know I was being given at the very beginning
Laura Woods
She certainly is leaving on a high after winning over their 3.6 million listeners, who were worried about her replacing seasoned pro Alan Brazil.
“I definitely think it’s made me a more confident person and brought me to where I am now,” she says.
“It’s such a cliché, but just being yourself is your biggest strength.
“It’s the only thing you have that separates you from anybody else, so having that time in that space to grow into myself and be my own person was a gift that I didn’t know I was being given at the very beginning, so I’ll miss it a lot.”
Laura will form part of ITV’s presenting team for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
While the tournament is taking place in Australia and New Zealand, Laura will be in England reporting from the studio with a very anti-social time difference.
As for what’s coming up career-wise after the World Cup, Laura shakes her head when asked about rumours she’s signed a big deal to take over from Jake Humphrey on TNT Sports (previously BT Sport).
“I know, I’ve seen a lot of articles, but I haven’t signed anything,” she says. “There are a couple of offers, but I’ve got a glorious month off now where I can sit down and start planning the next things.
“I don’t want to rush into anything. I’ve never been able to have that privilege in my life before. Never. I’ve always been 100 miles per hour in my career.
“I used to have this work ethic of taking absolutely everything, because I knew that it would teach me something. I didn’t care what it was, I would do it, and it was brilliant.
“It definitely got me to where I am now. But now, I have earned the right to take a step back and think: ‘What is right for me next?’
“I’d really love to get healthy. I want to be able to exercise more and take my dog for long walks. I’m just tired of feeling tired.
“I want to give my family and friends more of my attention. I really want to prioritise that part of my life more. I’d like to have a bit more of a routine for myself and think about what’s next, and I want to have a clear head to be able to do that.”
I control what makes me happy, and who I want to spend my time with.
Laura Woods
The Laura of today is much more self-assured and confident than the last time we spoke. Perhaps because she has realised she is more than capable of her job and has proved the doubters wrong.
She nods: “I’ve grown up. I’m 35 now, and I see the world differently to how I did before. It’s so different to 10 years ago and where I thought my life and my confidence levels were. I’m so much more comfortable in my skin now.
“I’ve experienced a lot of things and my career has moved forward. I work a lot on who I want to be. I control what makes me happy, and who I want to spend my time with.
“I’ve learned so much from people around me. Valuing yourself and your relationships — ultimately that’s what it’s all about for me.”
ITV’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup starts on Thursday July 20.
Coming off the breakfast show may give Laura more time to find loveCredit: Mark Hayman/ News Group Ltd
