Her phone has been hopping since she left. Of course, Jen is not broadcasting this, because this broadcaster is just not the sort that would. Because despite all the blasé bravado that she gives off, it’s all just bluster. You don’t have to dig deep at all to unearth real humility, genuine gratitude and also, a devil-may-care attitude which comes from a ‘life is short, let’s have the craic mindset’.
It is this precise mindset which allows this 44-year-old mum-of-two to put her tongue firmly in cheek and pull her sassiest pose in a bath, while wearing nothing more than a swimsuit, on our magazine cover. No wonder her phone has been hopping. TV stations; radio stations; producers; podcasters; comedy pals; business pals, they’ve all have been ringing, all wondering what’s next, and if so, where, and who with.
To be in demand has got to feel good we suggest, but the DWTS presenter brushes it off and says it’s only because she’s not “an arse” to work with. Which is true too. But what is she going to do next? She hasn’t a clue – yet – she says. Ideas are swirling and she’s gonna spend the next couple of months figuring that puzzle out while saying ‘yes’ to everything offered – even if it’s a trip to Ibiza with her girls (she’s going for two days Lau, in case you didn’t know!).
But she says, she just knew it was time to leave 2FM. It was time, she says, to let her husband Lau, who has been holding the reins, to fly with his own stunt movie career. And, her gut was telling her she had something else to do. Still though, she is reeling. Because she loves radio and loved that show.
Following a no-fuss, all-fun photoshoot with good glam pals (Bernadette Byrne, Paula Callan and Fiona Fagan) we sit and dissect her recent decision in this, her only interview…
A decade at RTÉ 2FM and suddenly that chapter is closed. Why walk?
It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was so difficult and I was actually having mini panic attacks before the decision because I was in such a state of limbo. Because at the heart of it, I didn’t want to go, I didn’t want to leave my show. And, it was heartbreaking – it really was. But something had to give and unfortunately, that was it.
Why did something have to give?
The thing about me and Lau is that we have always been a very good team. And Lau has taken the reins for so many years and now he’s on a pretty big job that takes him away; he’s gone 7-7 so I’m single parenting, pretty much. He’s very busy and this is his time to fly. I needed more time off this summer and RTÉ just couldn’t give me that. Initially, when I did take time off back in April because my dad wasn’t well, RTÉ were amazing: text messages, phone calls, very supportive…[thinking] But, look, I get it, they need to run a radio station. Also, I feel after every five years there is a new cycle. When I looked back I realised: I was in sales for five years; was in Bristol for five years; ran my studio for five years; did The Breakfast Show and my own show both for five years.
And did you walk after all those five-year stints or did they naturally come to an end?
I walked. I closed my studio; left Bristol; I walked away from The Breakfast Show, too. I’m okay with change.
So – you do have the guts to walk. But was it a shock to the system?
It’s not too much of a shock [thinking] but I miss it. I miss it terribly.
What are you missing?
I miss the show. I miss the team. I miss the intimacy of radio. I love the medium of radio and just the live-ness of it which you very rarely get to do in this industry. While there are loads of podcasts, and while podcasts are great, they don’t have the immediacy that radio has. And Irish people love radio and I love chatting with people.
And your 135,000 listeners loved listening to your 9-12pm show…
When I made the announcement and I read the messages that came in, I did shed a tear [laughing] as shocking as that may be!
So – why go then?
[Thinking] It was just time. A few quotes stick in my head too, one is Gay Byrne who said he spent far too long in “that place”. Another was a nurse who worked in the Hospice and who I interviewed on radio and she said not one dying person she sat with ever said to her that they wished they worked more. There was just something telling me there was something else I had to do. And I always go with my gut. My gut was telling me not to sign that contract. I can always gauge by my parents too and my mam – who’d be a very hard worker – was like, ‘Yes, it’s time for you to take the next step’. Maybe that five-year itch was creeping up on me too. But, I was never 100 per cent sure it was the right decision and that’s why it was so nerve-wracking. I do feel I’ll go back to it – someday.
To radio?
Yeah.
To RTÉ?
Well, 2FM and telly are very separate.
And wasn’t it just coincidental that Doireann Garrihy and the 2 Johnnies left around the same time?
I think all our contracts were up at the same time. I hadn’t spoken to Doireann about it at all. I read her news, in the news, like everybody else.
Have you been able to turn on Laura Fox, who’s now doing your slot, without longing?
No! I’m not there yet! I miss it too much.
Jen!
I know, it’s awful. But Laura is doing a stellar job.
You’ve been very busy since finishing with trips and freelance gigs. We presume that was the plan – to stay busy?
Lau’s like, ‘Are you supposed to be taking a break?’ because I am SO busy. Now anything that is coming in I’m saying yes to. Things I wouldn’t even have said yes to before.
Maybe that’s the panic?
Maybe! But I’m taking jobs I can tailor around family life. And that is a joy that’s taken me years to get to. To be able to do that is amazing. The freedom is amazing… but I miss the creativity and the craic.
Miley Cyrus in her Netflix interview with David Letterman said that for her, boredom is torture.
Somebody told me to sit with the boredom [laughing] I just can’t!
You’ve also lived a very public life and you are used to eyes on you. Are you struggling with the thought of maybe disappearing?
There’s no fear of that, no. I don’t give a shite about that, zero f**** given about that. What was interesting when I left was the reaction from my kids when I was like, ‘Mammy can walk you to school now [all excited]’…Florence, my daughter, was like, ‘So, you quit’. And I was like, ‘No’. I had to sit her down and explain the difference between leaving a job and quitting in sport, for example. She was like, ‘So, you don’t have a job anymore…’ That was very hard for me because it’s so important for me that she sees me working.
Also because you come from the hustle culture era and you are a hustler. Not hustling now could be panic-inducing.
I’ve been hustling since I was 17 years old. I don’t know any different. I’m a yes person, a think about it later person. Already I’m in a writing room working on a comedy series.
Is Bridget and Eamon back?
I’ve spoken to Bernard! But this writing project is completely separate.
Where did we last see Bridget and Eamon and where would they be now?
Ah, they’d have to wake up in 1990, wouldn’t they?! Shiny tracksuits and the World Cup! See it is nice to have a bit of space in the brain to go, what is next?
Not too much space though!
Not too much! [laughing] But space does give you time to figure out what you want to do.
And what do you think you want to do?
More acting; I’d like to get back on stage; do more writing also. Maybe go back to school….
To school?! And do what?!
I don’t know yet! I’m sitting with it [laughing] in the torturous boredom! But I definitely need to do a cooking course. Away with the girls there recently and I asked them did they have a speciality dish and they all did. But I don’t. I’m just good at throwing stuff in the oven!
You did really look happy and relaxed on that Lisbon trip.
I needed that trip. We’re all very similar: working mums, big pressured jobs and it’s the one time we really let the hair down. Also, I didn’t have the fear of going back to work. It was great, it was the right time, I needed those chats. Because it is a weird time.
And that’s why we wanted to shoot you on a wall, teetering, wobbling, balancing between two chapters!
I know…but I am excited about this new chapter, I’m not fearful, I never have been. Also, I would hate for people to look at me and think I’m privileged that I can give up my full-time job. I’ve been self employed, making my own money for 20 odd years. I never even took my full maternity leave.
We’re thinking about your mind and how you might be an extrovert with clarity and calm, an unusual combination. Because doing live TV, like Dancing With The Stars (DWTS), requires competency which requires calm. Basically, you can’t be a flapper!
No, you can’t be a flapper if you do live TV! [Thinking] I suppose having a background in business helps. And knowing that I’m not fearful of losing it.
But how did you get to a point where you are not of fearful of losing it?
I’m very good in an emergency situation. If anything happens, I can keep the head. But the only reason I could do DWTS is because I had all that live radio training. Also, I’m very aware that there are bigger problems in the world. I’m very aware that I’m dying, is that a weird thing to say?! And this is why I always say, yes, to stuff. My friend texted me the other day and said, ‘Do you want to go to Ibiza?’ I was like, ‘YES!’ Just give me a couple of weeks to get that by Lau! I live in the moment, also I’ve had some pretty shitty jobs so I’m very grateful for where I am. But I’m also very aware that it’s such a mickey mouse bullshit industry and it’s so flippant. Look, I just want people to have lovely fond memories of me in years to come. I want people to say, ‘She was gas!’ I want to be the Mike Murphy!
What’s gas is your devil may care attitude: you are all ballsy and sassy…
It’s just a f***-it attitude. Even when I was starting out years ago on Republic of Telly and I had my business, I remember sending out these letters to every agent in the country and I’d hate to read them now! I was so cocky!
Actually cocky or a sort of fake-it-before-you-make-it cocky?
Em…[thinking] I approach any audition, any meeting, any high-pressure situation with, ‘Let’s just go and have a good time’. [Thinking] I was invited to a very posh ‘do’ last week – don’t know why they invited me! – and I brought my poshest friend Susie and she was like, ‘You are loose’ [laughing]. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I just don’t care anymore!’
We’ve been scrutinising your cover shot and we can see that you don’t care what anyone thinks. You are just going for it.
I don’t care! I care less and less the older I get. And yes, something does happen in your 40s. I was thinking back to my 30th birthday in comparison and I was a pain in the hole, I was too much, I was very aware of myself. I care what my friends and family think of me, but not anyone else.
So, 44 and looking like a rockstar. But you work at it, you put the effort in, don’t you?
I do. I have been going to The Facilist (thefacialist.ie) for years and I always ask her, what holds you together and she says microneedling. Now you do look like a slapped arse when you come out of a session and it’s pretty painful and invasive but it’s a long game. I want to avoid filler for as long as possible. But I do Botox and I’m gonna start having Profilo and I have a good skincare regime at home and I use a very high-powered retinol, Tretinoid.
Which you can get in Spain…
Somebody in Malaga is getting it for me now! [winks]
And what about the body?
I love and enjoy food and I don’t like to restrict myself but I do have balance and I try to balance it out during the week.
Balance is a struggle for most. Does the gym help you achieve balance?
The gym holds me together. I feel pretty shit if I don’t exercise. I did the stepper this morning, I do BodyPump and weights. I try to go five days a week.
Have you always exercised?
No, it’s really only since I met Lau, and now I’ve overtaken him! He’s so busy he doesn’t have time to exercise and I’m only delighted!
Real competitiveness or a jokey competitiveness?
Healthy competitiveness [laughing]! Lau is a divil for getting me to try new things, like he’d have me golfing, and motorbiking, he wanted me to do a Jujutsu class recently. He has so many hobbies, his new one is motorbiking in the Wicklow mountains every Saturday.
Miley Cyrus was asked by David Letterman recently, what would her perfect life be? What would yours look like?
I’m very content. I’m very grateful. My very good friend, who used to work with me in my studio said to me in the last couple of weeks, I want to go into business with you, we need to do something because she was like, ‘You came from nothing Jen’! She was like, ‘Your three sisters shared a bedroom, there were eight of you in the house with one jacks!’ Initially, I was quite offended, I was like, ‘How dare you….’ and then I was like, ‘Actually do you know what? That’s true’. I am just so grateful for what I have.
If we could grant you one wish, what would it be?
That the contract for DWTS would come faster! But I’m doing my dream job: I’m Mc-ing, I’m writing, I’ve done radio for ten tears, I’ve written and produced sitcoms, and I’ve done, and will, hopefully, still be doing live telly. The cherry on the cake for me would be to get back on stage. I’d love to do a more serious play, something that is not comedy. It would be a challenge, it would be exciting.
Has the phone been ringing a lot?
There have been a few calls.
A lot of calls?!
A few, yeah!
Does that make you feel good?
[Thinking] Yeah. Suppose.
Does it make you feel proud of what you have achieved, ‘from the nothing’ as your friend said?!
Suppose!
Because if there were no calls it would be a different story.
But that only happens if you’re a bit of an arse to work with! [winks]
