Page 10 Irish Daily Mail, Saturday, November 10, 2018 ‘I don’t know what went wrong’ AUL Byrom is in great shape. His ever understand that. That’s some- athletic physique is the result of by Eoin thing I have to come to terms with and CrossFit, a daily exercise regime move on. With the ‘I think the transition from New York that, he says, doubles as a coping back to Dublin and starting a life that mechanism. For although the Murphy we thought we would have here was Pcharismatic tenor — who has carved out more difficult than either of us astonishing a transatlantic career as one of the na- expected. It put a strain on the mar- Tranquillity cruise when Dominique was 22. riage, for sure. tion’s top classical singers — may look But after five years of marriage, Paul says their ‘I’m sitting now wondering what’s like he doesn’t have a care in the world, relationship is over. However he admits he still next for me. I’m almost 40 and the candour of the reality is very different. doesn’t understand how, or why, things fell apart. thought of starting again breaks my Up until this year Paul was one half of music’s ‘I will say for as long as I live, for however long heart.’ golden couple. He was married to his sweetheart that may be, I will never understand what hap- Paul speaks openly and frankly about a man still Dominique, daughter of musician Phil Coulter. The pened,’ he says. ‘In all honesty, I don’t know how his emotional situation. He’s still try- couple first met when Paul performed on Coulter’s I’m not married any more and I don’t think I will ing to process the massive personal upheaval he now has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Moving on is not in raw shock, a process he takes lightly as he had to put on hold his dreams of starting a family. ‘Deep down I thought I had met tenor Paul the one. I was madly in love with her,’ he says of Dominique. ‘I was very proud to call her my wife. I thought we would have kids and live happily Byrom ever after. The thought of trying to find the courage to date again or the thought of even getting married opens his again is just odd. ‘I don’t think I will ever get married again, if I’m honest. But I can’t see myself living alone either. I don’t heart about want to be that guy who lives with his dog and talks to him on Insta- gram every day.’ Paul is currently living in a rented his recent apartment and is keeping as busy as possible. His friends have been ‘inval- marriage ‘The thought of starting again split... and breaks my heart’ the pain of

uable’, bringing him to the pub for football matches. He is also getting losing not serious support from his CrossFit crew. He no longer wears his wedding band, although a small tan line is vis- ible on his ring finger. just his wife He’s not yet ready to face the world of dating — let alone download the Tinder app. but also his ‘The thought of Tinder is scary,’ he says. ‘I remember Dom and I used to watch First Dates a lot. I’m not shy and I love conversation and company father-in-law and meeting people. But I used to watch it and wonder how these peo- ple were saying the things they did on camera. But here I am now in the Phil Coulter same space. ‘It’s 11 years since I was dating and loyal to him and we got on very well. a lot has changed. I have changed. That hurts a lot. His loyalty is with I’m grey in the beard and not as cool Dominique and I don’t hold that as I used to be — if I ever was. against him. ‘It’s difficult and scary and painful ‘But I will say that there was no but I’m immersing myself in work. incident. No issues, nobody cheated I’ve been really lucky that it hap- on the other. I find myself thinking of pened when I was at home in Ireland. them every day, the family, and I The support I got from my family think of Dom every day still. I often and friends is immense and I am say- dream about her. ing yes to everything. If someone ‘It’s very real still when I wake up asked me if I wanted to watch a chess and realise she’s not there. I will fig- match I would agree because the ure it out and it will all play out in thought of going home alone every the end for the better. I love Domin- evening is the worst. ique very much, I still do and I don’t ‘Sitting at home alone is the hard- wish her any ill.’ est. I think that anyone who is going It would have been easy for Paul to through a marriage break-up would stay in bed and not face his demons. say the same. All of a sudden, being But that’s not the person he is. He alone is the hardest part.’ believes in talking and openly admits While the loss of his soulmate is to seeking professional help when he tough enough to deal with, Paul also felt overwhelmed at his personal lost the professional connection to situation. his father-in-law Phil. He concedes ‘I have to look after myself. I do — I that losing his mentor hurts a great talk a lot,’ he says. ‘I am not one of deal. those men who won’t talk which is a ‘Losing the relationship with Phil huge thing for me. My own father was one of the hardest things to committed suicide and that has process as well,’ he says of the music stayed with me. He had his demons legend who was his father-in-law. to deal with and I saw first-hand ‘I’ve lost a family. We would have what keeping stuff to yourself can been 20 years working together and do. I struggled with levels of it myself he was very good to me. I was very Irish Daily Mail, Saturday, November 10, 2018 Page 11 ‘I don’t know what went wrong’

Bliss: beeps and it is one his fellow cast members in the Helix Panto. Paul Paul Byrom has signed up for a three-month with stint which will see him working all Dominique the way through Christmas. on their He plays the Sheriff of Notting- wedding ham in Robin Hood, making it his second year taking on the annual day panto. Last year, he was a star turn on The Helix stage in Beauty and the Beast where he played Gaston, much to the amusement of the young audiences who flocked through the doors. And this year will be no different. Working, he says, helps him fill his Panto star: With his former hours and he loves treading the father-in-law Phil boards as a panto heel. He has already signed up for tour dates in in recent years, when you come the US throughout February and back and the work isn’t here, it March, and he might even extend starts playing on you. A man needs his time on tour in the States to to work, whether that is PC or not, give his heart more time to heal. I don’t care. A man feels better ‘Professionally, America suits me when he’s working and I wasn’t. better,’ Paul admits. ‘There is prob- ‘That really got under my skin ably more work for me over there and got me down, to the point that and more interest in me. Ireland is I went and got help because of the a small scene. If you’re not getting fear of that developing into some- the profile, you’re not getting the thing that took me down a path I work. In the States, if you get the didn’t want to go down. I’m a big work you’ll get the profile, which is advocate of talking and getting bizarre.’ help and not being ashamed of Paul is visibly angry when he that. speaks about the Ireland that he ‘Even with the break-up, I’ve returned to. chatted to people about it — I ‘Watching Peter Casey talk in the think it’s the best way to be. You have to look after yourself and I am no good to anyone six feet under. There is something exciting about ‘Losing the that as well. It is about being posi- tive. By being positive, good things will happen and if I try to be a good relationship with person it will all play out in the end.’ Phil was hard’ In 2007 Paul became one of the original soloists in the hit show Celtic Thunder. He toured North presidential debate about how he America and Australia with the is going to encourage people to group and had six Number 1 World come back to Ireland or Leo tweet- Billboard albums. ing about what a great time it is to Last year his latest album Think- move back to Ireland, it makes me ing of Home reached the top of the sick in some respects. iTunes, Amazon and World Bill- ‘Where are these people going to board Charts and he has just been live when they come back? Yes, named the Irish Tenor of the Year there are jobs going but where are by the IMA for the second time in you going to live? three years. ‘These are serious issues for pro- Paul’s talent as a singer has fessional people like myself, who taken him across the world, and are working and contributing to some of his career highlights society and you can’t find some- include performing for digni- where decent to live. taries such as Emperor Aki- ‘ It is not as rosy as the politicians hito of Japan, former Irish are making out. I think it has presidents Mary McAleese tainted my view of this country, for and Mary Robinson and, the moment anyhow,’ he says. most recently, for former While he has issues with the hous- US president Barack ing situation in the country, he Obama. admits in his heart he is happy to He says he has found be home, on a personal level at real community though least. working in panto- ‘I love Ireland and I enjoy being mime. As if the cos- here — personally, Ireland suits me. mos is listening, I enjoy being here among my family Pa u l ’ s p h o n e and friends,’ Paul says. ‘I like a pint on a Tuesday night in O’Donoghue’s, or going to Rane- lagh and meeting friends at the last minute. My granny lives around the corner, she’s 99, and that means a lot to me. That being said, I was in New York in September where I lived for four years and I had a free day. I got on a city bike and just cycled around wondering why I ever left. I had a good life there and I was happy there. It was a great chapter in my life. So I might revisit that at some point, I just don’t know. ‘But for now, I’m coping and that’s good enough.’ n Robin Hood will begin an eight week run from November 23 to Jan- uary 20, 2019. Tickets priced from €19.50, are on sale from thehelix.ie and at The Helix Box Office. Page 22 v1 Irish Daily Mail, Saturday, November 3, 2018

ARY McEvoy has found a acting, changed her life forever when the soap on camera, however, and showed work/life balance that suits ended in 2000. that Ryan was simply play-fighting by Eoin While she believes the #MeToo movement — and Roxanne had blown things her. Ironically it’s not a kickstarted when several women, led by totally out of proportion. ­million miles removed from actress Rose McGowan, came forward to allege ‘That was so dangerous and such the day-to-day life of Biddy Murphy they were sexually harassed and assaulted by an appalling thing to happen and if MByrne, the no-nonsense wife of Miley, Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein — that had happened in the loo, he had has helped women globally, she says that the no proof and his career was over, he who she played on the iconic Irish problem of bullying may still exist behind was ruined completely,’ she says. soap Glenroe. closed doors. ‘There are always two sides and On her farm in Westmeath, she resides with profession. A practising Buddhist, it’s hard to ‘I didn’t have any sexual harassment because women have to realise that there are her two donkeys and 32 sheep. This rural exist- imagine her getting aggravated or upset, yet I was always a character actress,’ she says. ‘I consequences. ence affords her the ability to avoid the Mary reveals that a scourge of clandestine was never really a leading lady, it was the ‘I don’t want to be leched after or ­‘nonsense’ that’s often attached to her acting ­bullying, endemic within the world of theatre beauties that got it. to do the same but there is a little bit ‘But bullying was rife. It was just a of music in life and people are terri- way of being, more in theatre than fied to say anything. I like a door television. But I saw the bullying, I being held open for me but I would witnessed it — I saw other people do the same for a man as well. It’s being bullied and I was bullied just manners and it makes life myself. I know people who were lead- sweeter. ing ladies who might have had ‘Now I have often had horrible unwanted attention but they just things shouted at me from building thought it was funny at the time. sites, donkeys’ years ago, though it ‘Obviously if you’re talking the Rose McGowan sort of stuff, that’s sexual assault, which is an entirely different thing. But never in my life did I hear ‘These people got of anything like that.’ Mary says that the bullying within the acting world was seen as accept- their way by able for years. She suffered so badly from it that she turned down work belittling actors’ and opted for more commercial, light-hearted roles in a bid to avoid the mental torment. doesn’t happen now. That is horrible ‘It was specific people who I’m and it shouldn’t happen. But is a wolf ­certainly not going to name,’ she whistle a major crime? Maybe some says. ‘These were people who just people do feel that but I feel women got their way by belittling actors. It must not misuse the power they are was done to me and I saw it done to getting. In the long run, if we respect others. It was horrible to watch. and care for ourselves and others, we ‘I made a decision a long time ago will behave naturally in the right that I would work on the commercial way.’ side of the business because, quite It’s fitting that she is about to star frankly, the people were a lot nicer. with long-time collaborator Jon That’s the truth because of the Kenny in John B Keane’s The Match- ­bullying I got. I decided, no, I’m maker in Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre. never going back into that again. The play follows the efforts of Dicky ‘My life changed because of bully- Mick Dicky O’Connor to make ing. I made decisions about my matches for the lonely and lovelorn. career that I might not have made Keane, an avid observer of people had that bullying not happened. and the cultures that bind and create ‘I never wanted to be part of that their view of the world, uses The cool and arty group who felt they Matchmaker as an exploration of were better than people who worked rural loneliness. Mary is extremely for money. I didn’t feel comfortable selective about which jobs she takes in that world because your humanity and when she’s not interviewing wasn’t taken into account at all.’ celebrities such as Matthew Mary is not someone who throws ­McConaughey and Antonio Banderas these words out lightly. She immedi- for The Today Show on RTÉ, she is ately pauses, takes a breath and enjoying the simpler pleasures of admits she is nervous about the rural life. But she insists that The ­revelations she has just uttered. She Matchmaker is still as important also wants to make one thing clear: today as when Keane penned it. ‘It never happened on Glenroe. I ‘The themes in The Matchmaker think that’s why I stayed in it so long are so relevant today,’ she says. ‘It’s set in 1950s or 1960s Ireland so you think that the country was under the slosh of the Church. But these people ‘I knew how nasty are as earthy and as unembarrassed about their sexual needs as they come. They don’t care. life could be ‘It’s not just companionship they want, they want the natural faculties outside Glenroe’ in fair working order and that’s ­wonderful. John B Keane brought a whole different audience to it. because I knew how nasty life could ‘Every time we bring it out, there’s be outside of it. a slightly younger audience because, ‘I have seen actors called things, I first of all, it’s very funny. Secondly, have seen actors humiliated and I there’s a sense of an old Ireland that have never seen an actor in my life people are nostalgic about — the that hasn’t worked their a** off. They hearth and home. I love that. are the hardest working, most ‘My favourite line in the play is: “We ­vulnerable people and I have seen have the hay in the shed, the spuds them humiliated. It’s horrible but I are dug, the turf is reeked and we hope and don’t think it happens have no dread of winter”. now.’ ‘I just love that, the whole thing of Mary is every inch the optimist. hunkering down beside the fire and When she speaks, every word comes you have your supplies. These days, from the heart and she desperately because life is so disposable, people hopes that things will improve for would love that kind of anchoring. both sexes. ‘I get worried that people are so ‘Take what happened on Celebrity separate from the earth now. The Big Brother,’ she says of the reality older I get, the more I sink my two TV show incident in which soap star feet down in it.’ Roxanne Pallett accused her fellow When Mary speaks of her farm, she soap actor Ryan Thomas of punch- talks passionately and paints an idyl- ing her. The incident had been caught Irish Daily Mail, Saturday, November 3, 2018 Page 23 Iconic actress Mary McEvoy reveals the mental torment and abuse she and other stage stars experienced while working in Ireland’s theatres My life changed because of bullying

No nonsense: On the farm: actress Mary As Biddy in McEvoy Glenroe with on- screen tiousness that sometimes seeps do but he doesn’t view it as a prob- husband into the acting world. lem, he believes it’s a compliment Mick Lally ‘I would still like to keep working to your work and lovely to know as Miley but I find it hard to take the non- you meant that much to people sense side of the business seri- that they don’t forget. ously,’ she says. ‘I take my audi- ‘So I kind of realised that he’s ence very seriously and my work right. It’s not that I didn’t appreci- seriously but I don’t take it home ate Glenroe because I would have and I’m not a tortured artist.’ to say that, beyond anything, it was the happiest time of my life. ‘I think it was because if someone can’t let go of a character in their Being called head, as a viewer, you wonder will you ever be able to move ahead in your career. Where could I go? Biddy drives ‘That’s why I didn’t like it. It was like someone saying “you are in Mary bonkers this box and you are never going to get out of it”. But then again, I have worked steadily and the It’s almost impossible to think of ­characters I played were nothing lic picture of that good life that land which I planted, and I am anything that might tick off Mary, like Biddy. about animals and I imagine I who has openly battled and ‘People do shout Biddy at me, many people dream of but never thinking of setting up a woodland would be a wreck about children. realise. trust in my name because I don’t ­managed depression. But she does and it does still drive me bonkers ‘I’m terribly contented with my admit there’s one thing that still so I won’t answer to it. But if ‘I have 23 sheep and I look after have children so it would be a nice life at home. I’m 64 and I’m not them,’ she says. ‘They were very thing to do, I just don’t know how drives her potty: if you meet her, they’re willing to call me Mary, I going to live forever so it’s about just don’t call her Biddy. will talk to them all day.’ good to me so I will repay the to do it. time that one became content and favour. One of my donkeys died ‘I do think that children are more ‘I recently interviewed Kevin n The Matchmaker will be at the happy with their lot.’ Kennedy, who was Curly Watts on Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, from recently and those kinds of things work than animals. I admire Work is something she still are heartbreaking. I have a lot of ­anyone who has a family — I Coronation Street,’ she says. ‘He November 5-10, tickets from €20, ­relishes, although she prefers it to would have the same problem as I visit gaietytheatre.ie woodland, native Ireland wood- couldn’t do it. I worry enough come without any of the preten- 30march 2019 M o t h e r ’ s Day s p e c i a l One -p ot wonders Fanciful flor als

Actress Demi Isaac Oviawe and stepmum Kim Carroll share their incredible bond... Family ties

CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK cover story

Kim: Navy spot dress, €220, Basler at Brown Thomas. Demi: Noleen tiger dress, €260, Rixo at Brown Thomas

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CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK Ireland Motherly

There’slove just 12 years between them but from the moment emi Isaac Oviawe sits on a mauve couch next to Kim Carroll met Demi Isaac Oviawe’s dad, she’s been an her stepmother Kim integral part of her life. His death three years ago brought Carroll, both of them them even closer as they’ve battled grief, racism and enjoying their securing the family’s future surroundings in a plush suite at the five-star Fota Island resort in Cork. ‘You photographs: Naomi Ga f f e y by e o i n m u r p h y should see the bathroom,’ Demi tells Kim, pointing over to a small hallway that leads to a rather Dimpressive looking marble washroom. The two look more like friends than stepmum and stepdaughter – and indeed there’s only 12 years between them – but they have a solid bond made stronger by some tragic events in their lives. Demi, 18, tragically lost her mum Joy to breast cancer when she was just five, while her father Joe died three years ago when she was 15. The Nigerian-born actress now lives in Mallow with her four younger brothers – Obrian, 16, Amen, 13, Jack, 9, and three-year-old Noah – all looked after by Kim and her father’s brother Courage. Joe’s death is still a painful memory for both women. ‘I met him on a night out in Chasers in Mallow – he was working there at the time,’ Kim says. ‘It was 13 years ago and it was love at first sight – it was his smile that I noticed first. It was actually my first night out because I was just after turning 18 at the time, and I met him and we fell madly in love.’ Demi and her two brothers had been in Ireland for four years when Kim and Joe met, quickly forming a relationship that was based around Joe’s family. ‘I had a ready-made family before I had my own,’ says Kim. ‘I was so young, I suppose I didn’t see it as a big deal. The older I get, the more I realise how much of a responsibility it was back then. I didn’t take much notice. Other people would say it to me and I just didn’t care. ‘If Demi came in now and told me she was with this guy and he had three kids and she was

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Ireland CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK going to take care of them, I would have to have a chat from the hospital to say he needed to come home for with her. It’s not that I would be against the idea, it’s just treatment. It took an extra week to get him back. that it’s so much responsibility. But I didn’t take notice of ‘Eventually we got him home and myself and Courage that and I just got on with it.’ collected him from the airport. He could not even stand, he Demi has been listening attentively and nodding in was so sick and he went downhill from there. His legs got agreement. ‘We didn’t see anything wrong with it,’ she says. weak, his arms got weak and he was on so much ‘The first thing I realised was different about her was her medication his limbs started to swell. He picked up a bit hair because it’s so different to mine. I used to play with it after Christmas and was able to walk to the toilet and get because I had never touched or seen hair like it – everyone upstairs a bit but the end of April he got very sick and we I knew had braids. had to get a bed put into the sitting room.’ ‘We have a good bond and like any mother and Both Demi and Kim take a moment and share a glance. daughter relationship we have our ups and downs. We’re ‘He kept saying he didn’t want to die,’ Kim says. ‘We never just so similar – to me it’s like she’s fighting with herself were negative around him, but he would tell you he was because personality-wise I am literally her. She doesn’t see going to die. I used to fight with him over it. He would say that as a good thing because both of us want to be right he was not going to physio and I would make him go, even all the time. I get over things if I’m wrong and I won’t admit though he hated it, because I wanted him to get better. It it but she can’t get over it if she’s wrong.’ was very depressing for this strong, beautiful man to go Kim rolls her eyes and laughs, brushing off the barbed from doing everything for the family to do nothing on his compliment. ‘They used to rub my hair and face to see if it own – he couldn’t even put on his socks.’ was real,’ she says. ‘Because they’re obviously all black in Along with taking care of Joe, Kim was also dealing the family and they were always with black people. But with the children. ‘It was hard because Noah wasn’t even one yet,’ she says. ‘They were all very good but everyone Like any mother and was trying to stay stronger for everyone else. daughter relationship we ‘Their uncle Courage was amazing and we would have been lost without him. My mother Eileen Carroll as well, have our ups and downs. she’s incredible. She feels the need to come into the house We’re just so similar – to me and do the washing – there’s seven of us in the house so there’s always a lot of washing. I don’t think there’s been a it’s like she’s fighting with day since Joe passed that she hasn’t been at the house.’ herself because personality- Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and Demi knows she has wise I am literally her. … someone very special in her stepmum Kim. It can’t be easy for any teenager to tell a parent their finer qualities but The they got used to it.’ Young Offenders star is, again, no normal teen. When Kim and Joe met, Demi’s mother had just passed ‘She’s very kind,’ she says. ‘I know everyone says that after a battle with cancer. Living in a family full of boys, about their mum but she is. She has done stuff that no Kim’s arrival on the scene was a welcome addition for other person would do at her age. She’s only 30 – I know Demi. Their bond was instant and is as strong today as it people who are the same age and they act like teenagers. was back then. It was solidified during Joe’s short illness, as She’s very mature and kind and caring and loving to even they provided each other with the support that helped put up with us. them through a punishing time. ‘I know she drives me doolally but I couldn’t go through ‘The day Noah was born was the day Joe had to go for a day without having her on the phone – even if it was her an MRI,’ Kim says. ‘He went for scans and X-rays and giving out to me. When I was up in Dublin for Dancing With eventually he paid for an MRI scan himself. All that was The Stars I would ring her at least three times a day. I would physically wrong with him was that there was a limp in his ring her early in the morning even though I knew she would leg, he never had aches and pains. The day of the MRI, give out to me for calling so early. But I had to ring to hear they told him to go straight to his doctor. her voice and get her words of motivation. I don’t know ‘We went to the doctor and he sent him to the hospital what I would do without her. That was just me in a different and they just sat us down and told him, “You have a brain county, I don’t know what I would do if that was me in a tumour”. I will never forget those words. The following week, different country.’ he went to Nigeria. I think he knew how sick he really was Kim smiles at the compliment. They share an unspoken and he was saying goodbye. connection, with each one finishing the other’s sentences. ‘He was meant to come back after a week to start And woe betide anyone who takes a potshot at Demi – in chemotherapy but he caught malaria over there. They fact, Kim says that the abuse that Demi attracts simply by wouldn’t let him fly home so we had to get all these letters being famous is the hardest part of her parental

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CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK Ireland duties. ‘I find it difficult dealing with Demi being in the ‘Demi had season one of The Young Offenders then public eye,’ she says. ‘When she got asked to do Dancing she had DWTS and it was brilliant. Now she’s doing With The Stars, it was a massive discussion for a while in interviews and is on the radio and it’s amazing. I don’t the house. It was always going to be yes, but it was a big want to be negative and I’m not saying this as a fact, but deal. With The Young Offenders she could hide behind a within a month it could all crash and you are left back at character, but with DWTS she was her own person. That’s stage one. That’s why the Leaving Cert is so important, to actually the reason she wanted to do it, so people would at least have that as a foundation and know what else see the real Demi. she can do with her life. ‘But then you have people who, no matter what you ‘Acting does not define Demi – she’s a wonderful actor do, are negative. It’s fine to say that you’ll ignore them but but she’s an amazing person and she can do so many there are certain comments that do get to you. Being other things besides acting. She needs a back-up plan. black as well, there are people who will throw that in your She’s so talented and smart and bright, and it would be a face and it’s not nice. Their colour makes zero difference. shame to throw it all away because she thinks everything ‘When you’re in the public eye, people can be really will be fine. Life doesn’t work like that. I wish it did, I wish I nasty and hurtful and vicious. There were comments could tell her she will be fantastic and go on for ever. But I online from adults telling her to go back to her own can’t and I do get scared because she’s so young.’ country because she can’t dance. Her not being able to Kim is moved to the point of tears and smiles lovingly dance is one thing – look, I’m her mother and she knows over at Demi. Mother’s Day will be a special day for Kim, she was not the best dancer but she tried her best. But who places being a mum over everything else in her life, there were other contestants who maybe weren’t as good although she admits it’s not always plain sailing. as well at the start but nobody was calling on them to leave the country. Demi’s country is Ireland, this is her home and I don’t understand why, just because she is a different colour, she should be subjected to that sort of I feel like someone should abuse. write a guide book in how to ‘It was very hard to know that your daughter is going to have to listen to that sort of abuse, especially when she deal with fame. It is quite is so young. And yes she is famous but it does get to you. hard. You get these people That was hard to watch.’ Demi has never shied away from the conversation of that you’ve never met racism in Ireland. She’s a strong impressive teenager who thinking that they know found herself in the public eye after landing the part of Linda Walsh in The Young Offenders at just 16 years of you, but they don’t age. But she still finds the lack of anonymity difficult to process. ‘I do have days when I want to run away from all of ‘I feel like someone should write a guide book in how them,’ she adds with a grin. ‘I tell them I’m moving out, to deal with fame,’ she says. ‘It is quite hard. You get these don’t call me mammy any more. But they mean people that you’ve never met thinking that they know everything to me and seeing them happy and succeeding you, but they don’t. You never know how to react to in their own lives means everything to me. negative comments – it’s the most difficult thing to deal ‘I know I fight with them and I wreck Demi’s head over with. On DWTS I kept getting tagged online by bookies the Leaving Cert but I am her mother, as much as I want telling me I was the favourite to be booted out. Why us to be friends. I’m extremely proud of her. She has done would you do that? I was so nervous and then they so much in one year and to achieve all of that is amazing. tagged me. It drove me insane.’ Then she went on DWTS and put in all the hard work and Demi’s late father told her to pursue her dreams but to all this criticism she got, often unnecessary, she smiled always make sure she had a solid education and the through it all. I wanted to throw a shoe at their heads – I multi-tasking young actress is focused on pursuing her don’t know how she composed herself.’ twin goals. Demi starts filming soon for series two of The Demi agrees: ‘To be able to talk to my mum at 18 is a Young Offenders but facing into her Leaving Cert exams big deal I suppose. But as she said, she is my mum first this summer, Kim is anxious that she puts her studies first – and my friend second. I know how lucky I am to have a for now. mother like Kim. I know we fight like all families but she ‘I have had this conversation with her a million times, always puts us first, no matter what the cost to her acting is great but not reliable,’ Kim says. own life. That’s what being a mother is, I suppose.’

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