Aisling O’Loughlin sets the record straight over Xposé axe

Aisling O’Loughin has hit out at TV3 as she claims they released “misleading” ratings information following Xposé’s big shake-up.

In August it was announced that Xposé was undergoing a complete re-vamp, which saw three of the show’s regular presenters; Peter O’Riordan, Lisa Cannon and Aisling O’Loughlin axed.

Aisling was on maternity leave when she was told she wouldn’t be returning to the show, and although she initially stayed quiet about the re-vamp, she hit out at TV3 a number of weeks ago from her Instagram account after they claimed the show had seen a huge ratings boost since the line-up change.

May I just set the record straight for the sake of decency and fair reporting. I was quite content to be gracious and say nothing about the show’s sliding ratings and then this release from TV3 which is nothing short of breath-taking. Anyone can check the Nielsen ratings to verify. The average audience for Xposé was certainly not 42,100 and a 4.7% share when I worked for the show. That would have been a bad day at the office. Moving to half an hour should boost ratings anyway but it has not. 58,000 and a 6.5% share is not a ratings boost by a long mile and again would have been a bad day at the office. Can we please stick with the facts? No problem with fair reporting, would take it on the chin.

A photo posted by Aisling O’Loughlin (@aislingoloughlin) on Nov 6, 2016 at 11:33pm PST

Speaking about the ratings release, the seasoned presenter said she felt the needed to stand up for herself and set the record straight.

“I just think it was unfair after nearly 10 years on a show, the inference was that since they got rid of us, the ratings went up,” she told the Irish Independent. “And not only that, it was untrue. These stories go out there and then they’re accepted as just being true, so that got my goat. I had to clear my throat and set the record straight. It might have been a bit controversial, but what’s the alternative?

“I’m proud of my time on Xposé, I had a great time, I stand over my work and I always gave 100pc. When it comes to TV, it’s all about ratings – and the show has a new time slot I’m sure it will do very well in. But I haven’t given up on TV, and I don’t want somebody to Google me that’s considering me for a project and be put off by inferences like that. Why should I, or anybody, put up with that?”

However, Aisling admits that despite initially being surprised when told she wouldn’t be returning to the show, she didn’t take the news too badly as she knew she couldn’t juggle the jet setting life of an Xposé presenter while being a mum of three for much longer.

“No, it wasn’t really difficult news to receive.” she said. “I was surprised, because after all, I was in the middle of maternity leave. But it was more surprise than shock, if you know what I mean.

“They had been aware in TV3 that I was ready to take the next step for a while, that I didn’t want to stay on Xposé for another ten years. In a way, I was terribly happy to hand over the baton because I just can’t be going back and forth to London or LA all the time any more. I want to be here with my kids at dinner time.”

Aisling O’Loughlin recently launched her own lifestyle website, Exquisite.ie.