Saturday with Laura Whitmore: 'Exercise to me is more about how I feel than what I look like'

Actress and broadcaster Laura Whitmore

Laura Whitmore: "I always feel better when I come out of pilates class or if I’ve gone for a sports massage."

07.00

Before I had a child I probably had a lie in on a Saturday but there’s no such thing as that these days.

I’ll grab a coffee or some granola, a piece of toast or some fruit. I used to skip breakfast when I was younger but now I really appreciate it. If you can get everyone (including the dog) to sit together even for 15 minutes it’s a really nice start to the day.

08.30

I’ll try to get to a reformer pilates class at Exhale Pilates. I’ve never been big into gyms, I find them a bit intimidating. I prefer to do pilates, go for a run or do a home workout.

Exercise to me is more about how I feel than what I look like. My stylist used to ask me: ‘How do you want to feel? Do you want to feel comfortable, empowered, strong…’ and that has stuck with me. I always feel better when I come out of pilates class or if I’ve gone for a sports massage.

When I’m back home in Ireland I love to jump into the sea. You can’t really do that in London and you wouldn’t really want to jump into the Thames.

10.30

I’ll nip to the shop for a few bits and pieces. My daughter has a ballet class in the morning so I’ll take her to that. There’s always errands to run. At the moment I’m performing in Apex Predator in the Hampstead Theatre so I’ll have to get a lot done before I head in there for the matinee.

North London, where I live, is fantastic. I love the hustle and bustle. They have a fabulous market on Saturdays in Hampstead so I’ll pop in there before the theatre to pick up a few bits and to do some people watching.

13.45

I’ll head into the theatre for warm up.

14.30

The show starts at 2.30pm. Live theatre for me is probably the most similar thing I’ve done to live TV presenting — you get the same energy. If you do a film or a TV series it’s not necessarily in chronological order and is at a slower pace.

I work at a very fast pace and I think that’s because of live telly. I think live theatre is the same — the feeling and the reaction is instant and that’s why I love it — anything can happen.

16.30

I’ll have about two hours off before the evening performance which doesn’t necessarily give me time to go home or get distracted so I’ll meet my family or friends around the area of the theatre.

I love that, on Saturdays, people get a little quieter on emails. It’s very rare that I’ll have just one project on, so I’ll take that opportunity to catch up on replying to emails. 

At the moment I’m doing viewings of a documentary I’m working on. We are in post-production, so I’ll watch some clips and send some notes to the team knowing that no one will look at them until Monday. 

I might have a coffee with the cast and go through show notes or meet a friend for something to eat.

18.30

We’ll be back in the theatre to do warm-ups. This show is quite physical (we have a fight director) and this is where the pilates is coming in handy.

21.30

I’ll come off stage at about 9.30pm. In the past I might have gone to the pub and had a few drinks but now I have to get up at 6.30am or 7am the next morning so I don’t really have that luxury. It sounds so boring, but the day has been so long at that stage that I just want to go home and sit on my sofa.

10.30

If I’m not too tired I’ll have an epsom salt bath. At the moment my husband is on tour so we will catch up. We’ve been binge-watching Adolescence. I made a documentary about incels myself about a year ago so I find it positive that we are talking about these subjects. 

The play I am currently in is not based on a true story but I love the fact that people are talking about issues that come up in it such as postnatal depression. 

That’s the joy of storytelling, whether it’s TV, theatre, or documentary making, it allows us to talk about things that we find difficult as a society.

23.30

I can sleep anywhere, anytime. I went back and forth to South Africa a lot when I was doing Love Island and on MTV I would be between LA and New York so I slept whenever I could.

I don’t really read in bed — if I’m reading I prefer to do it in the bath, on a plane or by the pool. At the moment I’m reading quite a lot of scripts for work coming in, have just read The List by Yomi Adegoke and am reading Consolations by David Whyte.

• Laura Whitmore is working with Thérapie Clinic as she shares her journey towards strengthening her core and pelvic floor fitness with the Core To Floor treatment, a combination of EMSCULPT and EMSELLA. See therapieclinic.com