If Carl Mullan thought 2022 was his year, he had no idea what was coming in 2023.
He’s, of course, still manning the 2FM Breakfast Show alongside Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O’Callaghan. He showed off his dancing moves on Dancing with the Stars before lifting the Glitterball Trophy in March.
And now he is set to welcome his second child with his wife Ais.
VIP Magazine caught up with Carl in one of his few moments of downtime…
Hi Carl, how are you? This year, you’re working with Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps. Tell us why you decided to get involved.
Becoming a dad does make you a bit more aware of everything. I want to be as healthy as I can for my kids. I want to kick a ball around with them and go hiking with them. That’s really important. Kids are a sponge, right up until they’re teenagers. And that’s definitely something I would love to give him whether it be with Cúl Camps or just having time to play with his friends.
So when the time comes will you be suggesting Daibhí gets into sports?
100 per cent. He’s mad for running around, but that’s not exactly sports just yet. And as soon as he’s old enough I’m sure he’ll want to go to Cúl Camps. But like with any kid, if he shows an interest in it, I’ll back it 100 per cent. I’m sure there are other interests that he’ll be interested in. It’s trying to help your kids explore all of those things, what makes them tick and what gives them joy. Whether it’s sports or music or academics, it’s important to let them try out things and explore that.
Congratulations Carl. You and Ais just announced that you’re expecting baby number two. How are you feeling?
I’m absolutely buzzing. When we were pregnant with Daibhí and we saw the scan, I couldn’t correlate that scan with being a person who has a personality and brings you so much joy and makes you laugh every day. I obviously knew it would lead to a baby but it’s very hard to really understand what they’re going to do with our life.
I couldn’t imagine what my life would be without him. I can’t remember what my life was like before him. You would do everything for him. So it’s amazing when you get to that stage the second time around and you’re like “Oh my God, I can’t wait to do it all over again.” Don’t get me wrong, being a parent is hard. There are times when it is really mental, you’re tired, and you’re trying to juggle a work-life balance.
And I’m saying that as a man, for mams it is just unbelievable. My respect for what pregnancy puts women through. It’s incredible. The second time around, even though you know how hard it is, the joy absolutely outweighs everything else.
The whole country is delighted for you. How has the reaction been to your good news?
The two of us couldn’t believe it. It was a similar reaction to winning Dancing with the Stars. And I think that was the part of the show that I found the most overwhelming. It was just how lovely were. I know that sounds mad. There just comes a point where you’re like, “Why do I deserve people being so nice to me?”
Maybe it’s a bit of imposter syndrome that’s always been there. From my point of view, I am no different to the Carl I was five years ago. So when I tell people good news, rather than it just being your friends and family, it’s a lot of people. People are really, really decent. I always get asked do I get abuse online and don’t get me wrong it does happen. But for every one of those there are 250 ridiculously nice comments.
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You won DWTS so obviously people were in your corner. What were the messages like?
I had messages from people who have told me that their kids for it really inspiring to see me on Dancing. I just did it for a bit of craic! There was one mam in particular who told me her little fella was struggling with bullying. She said that him seeing me on telly every Sunday and knowing that I struggled when I was younger, she saw a real difference in him.
He saw a guy on TV who was doing all this and had the problems he was having right now and how my life turned out. It was the last thing I expected to come out of Dancing with the Stars. I’m getting choked up thinking about it.
We’re getting emotional too. Tell us the best part of being a parent.
I think just the joy in general that Daibhí has brought, not just us but our families. It’s mad but they just do something to everyone around you. He walks into the room and he completely lights the place up. People love him and love being around him. And seeing him form relationships, he’s at that age now where he’s starting to say their names and start having conversations with people. It’s such a lovely thing to see.
And for us as well, just seeing him learn things, going from one stage to the next. The whole thing is magic. And everyone I talk to tells me it just keeps getting better.
Apart from your home life, you’re a busy man. Tell us what you’re up to!
First and foremost, we just want to keep growing the breakfast show. We’re delighted that the feedback is positive. But we would love to make it bigger and better. There are loads of things I’d love to do. I’m a creative person anyway so I need to keep making stuff. The first time I ever did live TV was Dancing with the Stars. And look there’s nothing on the horizon at the moment.
But I would love to try that out again. It would be hard to replicate that feeling of going on live TV and doing a dance I didn’t know a few days before. But the buzz of TV is definitely something I would love to keep trying.
Before the baby comes, what are your summer plans?
We’re just about to move back into our house. We’ve been out of the house since the third week of Dancing so the middle of January. We have been back and forth between Ais’ mam’s house and my mam and dad’s house. We’ve been having the craic with them but we’re really looking forward to getting back home. The work is pretty much done, so we’ll be back in the next week or two. We can fix up the back garden.
Kellogg, now in its 12th year sponsoring Kellogg’s GAA Cúl camps, has launched its nationwide competition for all GAA clubs across the country to be in with a chance of winning incredible prizes worth €40,000. You can find out more details here.
