Ryan Tubridy, Pat Kenny and Gay Byrne were the most upstanding people at the Late Late’s unruly 50th anniversary celebration on Friday night.
“Schindler’s pissed” was the joke of the night — presumably a reference to how angry actor Liam Neeson was during his appearance. The Ballymena man described an email from the taoiseach as “snivelling”, and signed off his interview with Ryan by saying “goodbye Brian”.
Most of the guests arrived for a red-carpet event at 7.30pm. One or two seemed well-oiled by the time the show began. Even the stern presence of Tom Savage, the RTE chairman, had not deterred them. Kathleen Watkins watched the show from Gay’s dressing room. We’d love to know what she made of claims by Sinéad O’Connor that Gaybo ran his fingers up and down her spine after the singer’s first appearance on the show as a 20-year-old.
I hear the subsequent “lock-in” at the RTE canteen continued until 2.30am. Sinéad and Daniel O’Donnell were dance partners, burning up the dancefloor. It started on the Late Late Show.
Holly leads a charmed life
Advertisement
Holly Carpenter is leading a charmed life — as proved by the Love Your County GAA charm bracelet she was sporting at a launch of the new jewellery range at Croke Park.
It doesn’t end there. Holly, a former Miss Ireland and a grand-daughter of the doyenne of gossip columnists, the late Terry Keane, is beautiful and talented, it seems.
A student at the National College of Art and Design, she’s preparing to show her first art exhibition when she returns to college in September. “I have about five new paintings in the house at the moment,” she said. Holly has a distinctive style — “I’m really into pop art,” she said, citing Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol as influences.
The lucky 20-year-old is dating Cian Healy, the Ireland rugby team’s prop, who is in New Zealand on tour at the moment. “I miss him so much because we usually see each other every day,” she said.
The pair have worked on some art together, “but I prefer to paint on my own”, Holly said. Ah well, stick to the bigger rugby picture, Cian.
Advertisement
Danielle has hidden talent Danielle Meagher, or Dr Botox as she refers to herself, told me last week that plans for her latest Botox clinic were, ahem, frozen. “We’d been working on a Galway location for four or five months and it’s just fallen through,” she said.
Danielle claims to have a huge number of clients from Galway, including the Aran Islands. She had been hoping to open in the county to cater for this demand but plans are on hold. Pity, as it would have been a distraction from Dublin Housewives, where she has become the villain.
Not that she’s backing down. Danielle insists she’s more than a housewife, anyway. “I’ve a degree in aeronautical engineering and a Yachtmasters qualification,” she said. “And not a lot of people know that I’ve sailed across the Atlantic.”
I’m sure Virginia Macari would be delighted if she set off on another long ocean voyage.
Jackie’s dream
Advertisement
Forget about The Apprentice — Jackie Lavin wants her and Bill Cullen to be the Irish Richard and Judy. “I’ve always thought Bill and myself would have a shot at a chat show,” she told me. “Ireland doesn’t have anything like that and I think it brings a great dimension to have a couple. Also Bill and I agree on very little, so that would be entertaining in itself.”
While the duo are inseparable in their private and public lives, Jackie is drawing the line at Bill’s proposed space flight. “I won’t be going,” she said. “I have a fear of heights. I’d hardly go up a ladder.” So what possessed Bill to become Ireland’s first commercial space cadet? “I can’t understand what the attraction is,” she said. “I think he’s nuts. It must be a man thing.”
Vogues’ snub for Fade Street stars
Brian McFadden chose Slane Castle for his wedding to Kerry Katona. Second time around, he is doing things differently. I hear he and Vogue Williams, his fiancée, will marry in Florence, the capital of Tuscany, on September 2.
Among those who will be getting invitations is Dannii Minogue, a friend of Brian’s. In a snub that might have been a plotline from Fade Street, the reality-television show, none of the other cast has been invited by Vogue, I hear. However the show’s producers, John Norton and Steve McCormack from Straywave, will be heading to Italy.
Advertisement
Backchat’s invitation must have got lost in the post.