Laura Fox: 'No one in my family had connections — I thought it doesn't happen to people like me'

'Everyone around you thinks you're a bit of a loser because you're not in college.'

Fri, 24 May, 2024 - 17:28

Mary Cate Smith

My mother had me when she was 19. She was a single parent and she made it work.

She met a woman called Catherine and they decided to rent a house together. I got to share a room with Karen who was the same age as me — it felt like having a sister. My mum ended up remarrying and having more babies. We moved on but I always look back at that time. They're some of the happiest memories of my entire life.

My mother fobbed me off for ages but I really wanted a little bunny. There was a bad storm and she told me that all the bunnies had burrowed underground but I could get a goldfish instead.

I loved school but I could never concentrate on what I was supposed to do. I'm still like this. I leave everything to the very last minute. If I'm completely obsessed with something, I hyper-focus on it and it's the only thing I can talk about.

The only college course I got into was science. At that time, the points were quite low. I remember going; 'I don't want to do this.'

I hated science. I used to make up excuses not to go and my poor teacher would just be like; 'Go to sleep because I don't know what else to do with you.'

Laura Fox for Ireland's Fittest Family. Picture: Kyran O'Brien

I didn't want to do that course because it would be a waste of money and money wasn't something we took lightly. I had that kind of head on my shoulders. Mum enrolled me in a secretarial studies PLC course.

The biggest challenge was that all of my best friends were in college. They were living a truly different life to me, getting up whenever they felt like it.

I had a lot more responsibility because there was no fallback. I thought; 'Things are going to work out but everyone around you thinks you're a bit of a loser because you're not in college.'

I moved over to London when I was 20 and started working in bars. When I came back, I was hungry to get a job in media. No one in my family had any connections in the media. I thought it was a cool job but it doesn't happen to people like me.

I knew it was going to work, though, and I just wouldn't accept that as an answer. The key to getting there is to be really annoying.

Laura Fox pictured at the launch of the Platinum VIP Style Awards 2023 at Cafe en Seine, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy

My proudest achievement was getting my own radio show because it felt like it was never going to happen. I had started in Galway FM and I left solid work when I left that. I was young, I had no mortgage, I had no kids, I had no commitments. I felt; 'I can take the leap now.'

I was working very hard and I knew people were going; 'It isn't going to work out. You've been dawdling around doing this for 8 or 9 years now.'

My granny is without a doubt the strongest person I know. She had 11 children. I go to her looking for the hard truths. I don't like things to be sugar-coated.

I'm very strong in my opinions. When I believe something, I believe it to my core and I know that comes from her. If I'm not going to pick up the phone and ask you for your opinion, I don't need to live my life by it.

I wouldn't like to be remembered as anything other than a kind person. The only thing I care about is loving my friends and family with every fibre of my being.

I don't know if it's a defense mechanism but I genuinely think everything that has happened to me had a part to play in who I am. If you live your life trying to not make mistakes, you're not living it properly.

I got my fringe cut when I was 17. I wanted it chocolate brown and they dyed it black. It was curly and short and looked like a bird's nest. I take it back; I regret that.

I try to be a lot more conscious about everything I do — with electricity, showers, the bin, and recycling.

My fashion choices come from being a cheapskate my entire life. I had no money for my 20s because I was working every job under the sun to get where I am. I don’t tend to have any one-hit wonders in my wardrobe.

Laura Fox with dance partner Denys Samson during Dancing with the Stars Picture: Kyran O’Brien /kobpix

People’s egos [surprise me]. It's something that gets me on a daily basis. It's ok to admit you're wrong sometimes.

What scares me the most is that all this will end. For me, this is 10 years in the making but I’m not foolish enough to think it will be like this my entire life.

You hear about people who are just nightmarish to work with. Ireland’s Fittest Family is my first big TV show and I had so much craic every single day with the crew. It's harder to be an absolute prick.

I’d love to have been a vet. I would die for my dog. My family and my partner of eight years know that I love him more than I will any of them.

My dog Thor has me wrapped around his finger. I came home from work one evening and I wasn't playing with him. He started limping and I was panicking. I started rubbing his leg for a few minutes and the next thing, the fucker just stood up. I was like; ‘Oh, you played me.’