Laura Whitmore urges women to book smear test as she admits she was putting it off

The TV presenter and mother-of-one, who lives in London with her husband Iain Stirling, went for her check on Tuesday morning.

Whitmore, the former Love Island host, shared a message on her Instagram account today, she said: “Routine cervical check this morning. Had been putting it off but just did it!! Some things you have to make time for so if you’ve been putting it off, go to it please!!”

In Ireland, women over 25 are eligible for a free cervical smear test every three to five years.

Smear tests can help detect abnormal cells in the cervix which may result in a cancer diagnosis.

Cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan, who was hailed as a fearless advocate for Irish women, died yesterday at Milford Hospice in Limerick.

Ms Phelan’s legal case against the HSE and a US laboratory exposed the CervicalCheck scandal in which hundreds of Irish women were given incorrect negative smear test results.

They were not immediately told of case audits which identified the missed opportunities.

It ultimately prompted a series of reviews of the cervical cancer screening programme CervicalCheck.

Ms Phelan’s family have said her death will “leave a void in all our lives, that at this point seems impossible to fill”.

In a statement issued by the family on Monday, her husband Jim and children Amelia and Darragh, said it was with “an immense burden of grief, that earlier today we bade our final farewell to our beloved Vicky”.

“She was the heart and soul of our family unit & her passing will leave a void in all our lives, that at this point seems impossible to fill.”