Too Hot to Handle's Nicole O'Brien on fame, toxic exes and her boss b*tch era

The Innishannon native speaks openly about her experience following the release of Too Hot to Handle and how she dealt with being a witness to her own rise to fame

Nicole O'Brien rose to fame following her appearance on the Netflix show and is now focusing on her music.

In the height of lockdown in 2020, Cork woman Nicole O’Brien quickly became a household name after season one of Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle made its way onto screens across the world.

The popularity of the first season was unanticipated but with all of us confined within our homes, a reality dating show about a group of singles sent to Mexico with the aim of finding love (and winning the $100,000 cash prize) was the perfect recipe for escapism.

Fast forward to 2022 and Nicole O’Brien is releasing a brand-new single and is looking, as she would say herself, like a “boss b*th”. She sits confidently in a stylish blazer and a gold-plated ‘1995’ necklace that reminds me she is still only 27.

After a year of remaining tight-lipped about the whole experience, O'Brien tells me her life changed forever when the trailer for season one of Too Hot to Handle dropped on Netflix. While she was relieved to finally share what was happening with friends, sitting on her sofa, and watching the reaction to the show in real-time was an unusual experience.

“It caused me a lot of stress and anxiety, I’ll be honest. You’re going from being not known to being well-known and getting all of these followers and everything and that’s mental for me and I think for anyone to adjust to that lifestyle, it takes a while.

“I had a lot of anxiety trying to get used to it but now I just absolutely love it and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

O’Brien had originally been due to appear on ITV’s Love Island in 2016 while she was studying Commerce at University College Cork (UCC) before her parents intervened.

“I was on the way to a lecture in UCC and my parents dragged me into the car being like ‘come here, you’re not doing Love Island because you won’t finish your next two years of college’ so I remember crying. Being like, ‘you’re ruining my life. How could you do this to me?’ Proper teenager, like,” she says.

The singer admits she has been used in the past for press and followers, including by ex-partners.

Later, while she was living and working an office job in London the same producer contacted her about a brand-new Netflix show, Too Hot to Handle.

“Obviously it came out during lockdown so they told us ‘don’t expect it to be big, it’s season one it may be nothing’. So, I’m just thinking OK, I’m probably not going to get much from this.” But as she put it herself, “it just blew up”.

Her parents were still sceptical about this show they had never heard that would see their then 23-year-old daughter jet off to Mexico alone for a month.

“They were kind of freaking out but then I got producers to call them every day to reassure them that I was fine, and I wasn’t getting kidnapped in Mexico,” she jokes.

It wasn’t until O’Brien arrived that she and other cast members were informed about the surprising twist — they are not allowed to be intimate with one another. Even a kiss was off limits unless they want to lose a chunk of that prize money.

“All I was thinking was my Catholic mother at home is going to be delighted with this,” she laughs.

Since her rise to fame, the Corkonian has learned a lot about herself and says her confidence has really grown. Coming off the show, she admits she was “quite naïve” to how people were treating her and had just assumed the best of people. “But they wanted something in return,” she says. “But now I would definitely have my wits about me in terms of seeing that people have a different motive.” 

Her new single is all about feeling empowered with the message coming from her own experiences in relationships.

She admits that she has been used in the past for press and followers, including by ex-partners.

“I’ve had exes and stuff use me for that in the past and it’s just been not very nice, but it’s been my family and friends who have seen it, not me. Now, I’m well aware. Whenever they bullsh*t, I can tell.” 

This brings us on to her latest single, C’est La Vie which is all about knowing your worth and being able to walk away from toxic relationships.

Over the past few years, the 27-year-old had been dating a few people who would put her in the headspace of feeling “really shi*t”. “There were days when I would literally lock myself in my apartment crying,” she says. “That really knocked my confidence.” 

Then in January, while she was upset and locked away in her room, she “snapped out of it” and decided to put her emotions into music with the goal of helping people in similar situations to feel empowered.

“That’s what the song is about so it has quite a deep meaning but it’s a very pop, upbeat, dance track,” she explains.

“I just wanted something that was quite relatable to people and I wanted people feeling empowered and listening to something and being like, ‘yes that’s a boss b*tch anthem’.” 

As for now, she has decided that she wants to remain single for the time being.

“I’m in my boss mode where I’m focusing on me and my music. I don’t have time to be focused on anyone else.” 

• Nicole O’Brien’s new track C’est La Vie is available now.