Operation Transformation, week two review: 'A plank is what you throw on the fire'
Operation Transformation participant Edel O’Malley.
It’s week two of Operation Transformation on RTÉ One and the first week of putting plans into action. As much as we all love the backstories, the entertainment factor starts now as we get to check out who has the nicest kitchen cabinets and whose GAA pitch definitely needs a bake sale to get amenities up to scratch.
Already I know I would go to war for Edel, whose sense of humour shines through, especially in the face of her husband’s friendly tips when it comes to her initial attempt at a meal plan dinner.
“Darlin’, eat it or don’t eat it, it doesn’t bother me,” she says with a quiet power reminiscent of such female powerhouses like Helen of Troy or Anne Doyle.
“Maybe eat it first and then give me your full feedback,” she adds with such casualness you could almost miss this killer parting shot, but Edel’s impressive closing statements are only rivalled by her moving talk of motherhood and her reticence to complain about a thing for which she is supremely grateful.
The struggle between gratitude and honesty when it comes to being a mammy is something host Kathryn Thomas - who shines in her cheerleader role - points out will strike a chord with many.
When Edel meets up with her fellow mammy friends, they almost make exercise look fun as they do their run whilst simultaneously venting about their families. After all, if venting freely about our kids driving us mad isn’t an incentive to run I don’t know what is. Aside from anything else, it’s good to know you could possibly run away from your family if and when your husband asks you where we keep nappies again (hint, the answer is the nappy bag - we understand why this might be confusing).
It is an episode of zingy salmon and even zingier one-liners, none more so than when Ann dismisses a plank as “what you throw on the fire”. In doing so announces herself as a serious contender for future iconic status.
Fellow participants are equally impressive, with Daragh talking about men not talking, and the importance in opening up about feelings. His hectic days and resulting late night feeds, along with hastily purchased lunches is a story which will again resonate with so many busy parents, and is a spending habit which hasn’t gone unnoticed by his wife Yvonne.
“Sure I can see the joint account,” she reminds him. Yvonne’s Wagatha status only reaffirms my long-held belief that if a woman had been heading up the hunt for Shergar back in the 1980s the missing race-horse would have been located before he’d even left the stable.
With impressive fitness results and even more impressive weight loss, our lovable leaders are off to a flying start and providing truly engaging television. We already await next week with bated, laboured breath.
