'I might never be on the telly again': Mairead Ronan on why she left Ireland's Fittest Family
Mairead Ronan, broadcaster. Picture: Moya Nolan
Mairead Ronan has opened up about her decision to leave Ireland’s Fittest Family after 10 seasons — admitting she doesn't have something else in the pipeline.
“The truth is, I don’t have something else," she confessed on her new podcast, Jenny and Mairead Now, with Jenny D’Arcy.
"It’s not like I can go, ‘There’s a couple of things in the pipeline.’ There’s not so it’s a big leap into… I don’t know. I might never be on the telly ever again.”
The 43-year-old first confirmed her decision to the Irish Examiner's Weekend magazine on Saturday, saying she loved her time on the show but also loved "change," and loved "being the person who decides on the change".
"I have worked on Ireland’s Fittest Family and loved every single day of it from season one, when it was I always think a little show on RTÉ, a brand new format, and now it has grown to a pillar in the RTÉ schedule. And I’ve been there, right up to year ten.
"I’ve loved it, but I also love change and I love being the person who decides on the change.
"I look forward to watching it this year with my feet up with my family and not knowing who the winner is and I’m also really hopeful that I will be back on screens on something else, because I still want to work in telly. I love telly. But I love change more."
Commenting on the pressure on women who work in television when it comes to their appearance, Ronan said she looked after herself "in all sorts of ways".
"And that is for telly definitely."
“There’s no secret," she went on. "I don’t hide what age I am: I’m 42, I’m a mother of three, but I actually feel really good and think I look good.
“But nobody would ever ask Davey Fitz, ‘Do you think you need to get in shape for Ireland’s Fittest Family?”
Expanding further on her decision on the podcast, the former Today FM presenter said she felt there was "no more" she could do with Ireland's Fittest Family and she would love "a different challenge".
“Having stepped away from the radio, then I enjoyed the change and I’d love a change in this area too.”
“It’s funny because some of the lines and some of the things I said to the bosses of the show the day I gave them the news, I then heard Ryan Tubridy saying about a month later on the radio [when he announced his departure from The Late Late Show].
"Like, I know when it’s time to leave the party.... I have said I always know when to leave a relationship. I always know when to leave a party and I always know when to leave a job.
"And this is the right time for me to leave this job, it just is. But I’ve loved working with them. I’ve worked with that gang for 12 years. They’re like my telly family.”
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