Jennifer Zamparelli is a breath of fresh air. We always leave our chats smiling ear to ear.
After stepping away from 2FM, she’s been grabbing life by the horns and taking on new challenges.
“I’m doing all these little things that excite me, make me use a different part of my brain, challenge me and I never really had time to do before, so it’s nice to have the opportunity to do that now,” she tells us.
Read our full chat with Jennifer below…
Hi Jennifer, how are you? Tell us abit about Small Town, Big Difference and why you got involved.
It’s a lovely campaign really for communities across Ireland. So, if you’re part of a football club or part of a school or any little group and you’re trying to raise funds through return for a community initiative, you can register and there’s going to be a winner picked. There’s actually going to be 10 winners picked to win €2,000 for their community cause, whatever that is, whether you need new football jerseys, whether your pitch gets waterlogged or whatever that is. So, it’s lovely, it’s a really nice community initiative and also great for kids to get involved. I know this with my kids, with the return scheme in particular, that they’re just more aware of recycling and it’s being more proactive in that sense. It’s not only my job now in the house, they’re getting really involved, so this is just another way to do that. Entrants can get online and register until the 6th of June and myself and a couple of people from Return will be picking 10 winners to win €2,000 for their community initiative. My son has recently joined the local football group and they’re always trying to raise money. And sometimes cake sales just get a bit boring, don’t they? So, it’ll be nice to hear what people are doing around the country and get involved, you know.
It’s safe to say you’re a busy woman, Jen! Most excitingly you’re returning to the stage in Rocky Horror. How excited are you?
Excitement is more, you know, s**t scared. It’s quite daunting, but I love new challenges, and I love doing stuff that kind of makes you feel alive and makes you feel, “Oh my god can I do this? Can I not do this?” I’m so nervous about doing it but that’s why I knew it’s the right thing to do. It’s so different, it’s going to push me out of my comfort zone and it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s what I do want to do but it’s been so long and I’ve never had an opportunity to do it because I’ve always been so busy. So, it’s nice to have a bit of space to do these challenges I suppose. I’m also running a mini-marathon for charity and did a short film a few weeks ago. So, I’m doing all these little things that excite me, make me use a different part of my brain, challenge me and I never really had time to do before, so it’s nice to have the opportunity to do that now.
Oh God, you’re running a mini-marathon! Fair play!
It’s horrendous, it’s no fun, it’s so boring, I absolutely hate running but I love Coolmine Therapeutic Community, who I’m doing it for, and I started training and I was doing so well, and I got up to 7k and I got up to 10k and then I busted my knee. So, I don’t know how I’m going to manage. But it’s such a shame, because I actually was getting quite addicted to it, and trying to do my personal best. So, I don’t know how it’s going to go on the day, but I’ll get over the finish line whether I’m crawling, walking or jogging I don’t know. I don’t know how it’s going to go.
Speaking of getting out of your comfort zone, Ladbrokes are saying that you’re the favourite to take over for Joe Duffy on Liveline. Have you heard about this?
I didn’t. I actually didn’t, I have been out of the country the last couple of days and when I came back, I was just so immersed in the sadness of Joe leaving. I think I might need to get on the phone to him and convince him not to leave because I think it’s a travesty. I don’t know who can fill his shoes. He’s just such an icon and so amazing at what he does and we’re so used to his lovely voice. I think it’ll be tricky for anybody to fill those shoes. So don’t put money on me, because you might lose.
You’ve been away from 2FM for almost a year now, how has life been for you?
It just has gone so quickly. In the beginning, it was quite daunting and scary and I don’t know it was a bit weird. It felt like a bit of just a long holiday. But it’s been so nice, because the phone’s been ringing and things have been coming in that have been challenging and different. It’s been nice being able to do them. I shot a short film in Wexford, I’m doing The Rocky Horror Show, I’m doing little bits and pieces, I’ve been writing. There’s stuff going to happen at the end of the year, so it’s been nice. I do miss the lads in 2FM, I tune in every now and then, when I’m in the car or when I get an opportunity. But it’s nice to have a little bit of freedom, you know, because when you’re on a radio gig like that, you tend to not have a lot of freedom because you’re stuck for certain hours and can’t really do anything. I’ve been going on far too many holidays because people are just like ‘Do you want to go?’ and I’m like, “Yes where we going?” Because I’ve never had so much time or flexibility, now I’m so flexible, it’s nice to be able to do what I want, when I want, you know.
Obviously, summer holidays are just around the corner, do you have plans for them? Or are you very chill, kind of go with the flow?
Oh, I am away! I’m going to go on a family holiday because in August I’ll be on stage with the Rocky Horror Show. I’m going to be doing a week in the Bord Gais and then I go to Derry for a week and then I go to Cork Opera House. So, August is actually going to be busy for me and Lau is actually getting really busy. He’s on different films, so we just take it as it comes, we can’t really plan a lot. We do a family holiday, I tend to just book it for me and the kids and if he joins us he can because you just never know what he’s doing.
Your kids are still small, 10 and six, but it must be exciting for you to see them come into a new stage of life.
Florence is coming into a tween stage, it’s quite scary. She said to me the other day, ‘Mum I’m the only one in my class, you know, who’s not doing skincare’. I was like yeah because she’s 10, you know what I mean. The only thing I will let her have is perfume- I let her have the Sol De Janeiro and maybe a lip balm, but that is it. But it’s very hard, because she turns the tables on me. Like I was doing my makeup this morning, coming here for the photo call and she was like ‘Why are you wearing makeup? You don’t need to wear makeup’- I was like. ‘Uh huh yeah’. She’ll put the mirror up to me going ‘Why are you wearing makeup?’ But it’s a hard one to navigate, you just do your best. But she’s great, she kind of beats the sound of her own drum and so far, it’s been okay, but I’m getting into the tweeny stage now, so it’ll be interesting to see how the next few years go.
Skincare routines! And the next thing is the phone!
It’s so hard, I’m lucky in our school, we all kind of signed this thing. We all kind of agreed they’re not allowed to have phones in primary school and that’s really helped. That’s been a great help to kind of navigate the phone thing and you just bat it off for as long as you can and you just want to keep them in their childhood as long as you can. Because it doesn’t last long and you don’t want her to grow up too fast. So, you’re just trying to put the brakes on that for as long as you are possibly able to. But it is tricky and that’s nearly a full-time job in itself, but I think we’re doing ok at the moment. But it can turn really quickly you know, you just don’t know.
Before we let you go, let’s talk acting. You’re doing Rocky Horror, you mentioned the short film. Is more acting in the pipeline?
It wasn’t the plan, but then it just kind of happened organically. When I started out, I’d never go ‘Oh this is what I want to do’, I never have a solid plan. It’s just kind of all these little steps kind of lead me to certain ventures. It’s probably always been in the back of my head to get back on stage, but this opportunity came with Rocky Horror that I couldn’t turn down. As scary as it is, it’s such an amazing opportunity and a great show to be involved in and really kind of fawn and be sexy and provocative, it’s a really cool show to be involved in. So, I’m excited about that, albeit very nervous. The short film was way out of my comfort zone. It was something I shot with an amazing group of people, and I said yes to the short film actually a year ago, just as I left radio. I remember being on holiday and the script came out, and it was a serious piece, very dramatic and it really took a toll on me emotionally because it was so full on. I shot it in Wexford, and I was like, ‘Oh I’ll just go for a run in the morning and then go and shoot the film’. I was just wrecked after every bloody scene. But it was amazing to work with such creative people. Now I have the bug again. That was a real push for me but so unbelievably fulfilling and enjoyable that’s definitely a road I want to go down if I get the opportunity. So, I will pursue that more because I have the time and I have the brain space, and I think I’ll always have to do something quite creative in my life no matter what that is.
To enter the Small Town, Big Difference competition, please visit the Re-turn website here
