Paralympic champion rumoured to be new coach on RTE's Ireland's Fittest Family
The gold medallist swimmer became Ireland's youngest ever athlete when she swam in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and has remained at the top of her game ever since, winning gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The former Dancing With The Stars contestant announced her retirement in 2024, saying at the time: 'How lucky am I to have something, that makes saying goodbye so hard.
'A night of smiling, a night of love & friendship, a night of being incredibly proud to be Irish.
'Thank you Michael for sharing this experience with me. Thank you to my teammates for cheering SO loud that it was so easy to find you in the crowd. Thank you to the Paralympic community for being my home for so long.'
A show insider revealed that Ellen has now signed up to be a coach on the 13th series of the RTE One hit show, which is hosted by 2FM star Laura Fox.
She is rumoured to be the latest coach, alongside a former Dublin footballer, who has yet to be revealed.
Ellen will join coaches Davy Fitzgerald, Anna Geary, Donncha O'Callaghan and Sonia O'Sullivan. It comes in the wake of Anna teasing major changes to the format.
She told the RTE Guide last month: 'Oh, wait until people find out what's happening in Ireland's Fittest Family!
'No, I'm not going to be the person to let the cat out of the bag because I'll absolutely be taken down by the production team.
'But what I will say is never before has what is about to happen, happened on the show.
'Let me tell you, as a coach, I was more shocked than anybody.
'There are big changes, big twists, you're going to see a changed format, new locations. Oh my God! It's going to completely shake things up.'
Last season, the Cummins family from Kilkenny, coached by hurling legend Davy Fitzgerald, took home the crown.
Dad Paul said of their win: 'What an unbelievable experience taking part in Ireland's Fittest Family has been.
'As individuals, we have had success, representing our country in multiple sports, but to compete with zero expectations except to give it a good go.
The air date for the new series has not yet been released but it will be streamed on RTE Player and RTE One.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
RTE Fair City viewers all say same thing as Melanie scrambles for her job after Zoe was tipped off about her theft
Plus, Holly promised Mondo that she would get Sean off their case SHOCK CITY RTE Fair City viewers all say same thing as Melanie scrambles for her job after Zoe was tipped off about her theft RTE Fair City viewers were all left saying the same thing after Melanie was left scrambling for her job - after Zoe learned the truth about her theft. On tonight's show, Claire pressured Gwen to find a new housemate, while Fergal clashed with Jacinta. 3 Melanie was left scrambling for her job Credit: RTE 3 Claire told Melanie to keep playing innocent Credit: RTE 3 Fergal was looking for a new place to stay Credit: RTE Melanie was distraught when she learned Alex told Hughie the truth about her role in the car theft. Later, she pleaded with Hughie for his forgiveness, but was met with a cold shoulder as he informed her she almost cost him his friendship with Zoe. In an attempt to smooth their relationship, Hughie told Zoe the truth about the car theft. Following this, an infuriated Zoe confronted Melanie in the office, but she denied everything. Concerned for the firm's reputation, Claire told Melanie to keep playing innocent. And Jess was shocked when she discovered a file for Goo Eyes that suggested Melanie contacted him through Joan's firm. Meanwhile, Claire warned Jess to stay quiet if she valued her job and Ruby scrambled to find a new couple to model Lorcan's jackets - which led Ellie to volunteer herself and Alex for the job. Overcome by his own trouble with Melanie, Alex bailed. RTE Fair City viewers raced to social media to share their reactions to all of tonight's drama. Pamela said: "Zoe and Hughie will torch the smart office." RTE Fair City tonight Michael remarked: "Hughie needs to go to the Garda." Another fan added: "Melanie's CV is fantastic... her last reference from goo eyes." Elsewhere on the show, Claire pressured Gwen to find a new housemate soon, otherwise threatening she would pick a new tenant for her. Meanwhile, Fergal clashed with Jacinta at home when she began to treat him like her caretaker. NEW HOME After hearing how she treats him, Gareth urged Fergal to move out and suggested he ask Gwen about her spare room. Despite not initially being keen on the idea, Gwen later reconsidered after she saw Jacinta snapping at Fergal in public. Following the encounter, Gwen agreed to include Fergal in the next round of interviews for the vacant room. And out of options, Ellie convinced Greg to do the shoot with her. When Sean asked Mondo to pay half of the loss from the promo, Mondo insisted that Comet wouldn't accept liability. Meanwhile, Holly promised Mondo that she would get Sean off their case- which she managed to do by charming him into agreeing to back off.
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘I've been waiting to do this', admits Arthur Gourounlian as he gets permanent ink to honour daughter
RTE star Arthur Gourounlian has shared a personal update with his fans after he showed off his new permanent link to his daughter. The Dancing with the Stars judge and his Six O'Clock Show host husband Brian Dowling are proud parents to their two kids, Blake, two, and one-year-old Blu. 3 Arthur got a touching tribute to his daughter today Credit: Instagram 3 He took fans along on the journey Credit: Instagram 3 Arthur ended up getting two tattoos dedicated to his youngest daughter Credit: Instagram The celebrity couple often share sweet glimpses of their family life with fans on social media. Today, Arthur took to his Instagram to share an unusual update with fans regarding his personal life. The dad-of-two was sat in his car early in the morning sporting a pair of shades. Recording a short message for his fans he explained: "Good morning gorgeous people, happy Tuesday, hope you are all doing well. "Right, so the time has come for me to go and do my tattoo. I've been waiting to do this since Blake turned one. It was supposed to be for her birthday, but we didn't get time, because when you are on holiday you have to keep it out of the sun." The TV star then held up his forearm to show fans where he already had his first daughter's name tattooed. He added: "As I have Blake Maria Rose... so time to add Blu! I've been waiting for this, I am so excited." Arthur then took his fans along on his journey to get his daughter's name tattooed on his arm. The 45-year-old got his new ink in Temple Bar's The Ink Factory, where he showed off the initial sketches from the artist. After some brief back and forth, Arthur and his tattooist agreed on a final design and started the piece. Inside Arthur Gourounlian and Brian Dowling's 10th wedding anniversary Later, he took to his Instagram to show off the finished work- which included an additional art-piece. To show the finished design with his fans, Arthur showed off both sides of his forearm, which included a hand-drawn sketch of Blu's name in his handwriting, as well as his "first ever heartbeat scan". Doting on his two new tattoos, Arthur gushed: "I absolutely love it. Oh my god, I love, love, love it." STRIKE A POSE Arthur recently launched a brand-new fleece collection as part of his company, The AG. The 44-year-old didn't have far to look when it came to asking someone to model his new clothes. His little girl Blake was delighted to take on the role and model his cosy fleeces. In a short clip posted to Arthur's Instagram, Blake could be seen striking a pose in the bright pink fleece. The toddler had her hands in her pockets and a cheesy grin on her face. Arthur snapped dozens of photos of the little one as she pouted her lips. Blake had a blast jumping around while Arthur attempted to capture more The TV star jokingly captioned the video: "They say to keep it within the family."
RTÉ News
12 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Carl Mullan on work, marriage and raising three young children
Life has been a rollercoaster for 2FM broadcaster Carl Mullan and his wife Aisling in the last five years. Speaking to Janice Butler, the couple reflects on raising three kids under four, trying to make time for each other and the struggles and joys along the way. The last five years for Carl Mullan and his wife Aisling have been, as they put it, a "complete whirlwind". The couple, who have known each other since childhood, have had three children in just over four years, bought a house and got married, all the while balancing Carl's growing media career as host of 2FM's Breakfast Show with Aisling's high-pressure job as a paediatric nurse. They're taking a few hours away from the madness of parenting for our shoot in Barberstown Castle in Co Kildare, a stone's throw from Aisling's mother, who is minding the three children (Daibhí (4), Éala (2) and Béibhínn (7 months). "Once they're fed and kept alive, I'm happy," laughs Aisling. "My mum's a great help." Carl is no stranger to being in front of the camera, but I wonder how Aisling is finding her moment in the spotlight. "I'm a little out of my comfort zone," she says. "I'm socially awkward on a good day, but it's nice to do things together," she says, looking towards Carl. While Aisling is whisked off for hair and make-up, Carl reflects on his career to date and how fatherhood has changed him, before Aisling rejoins us to talk about their new podcast, How Are Ya Lovie, a project they've started in a bid to "schedule more one-on-one time together." Carl's been up since 5am for his regular gig, the Breakfast show on 2FM. The show has gone through many changes in the last year, since the departure of his original co-hosts Doireann Garrihy and Donnacha O'Callaghan, but things have since settled, with Carl now co-hosting with Roz Purcell and Aisling Bonner. After four years of breakfast radio with added young children, Carl is still trying to manage the early starts. "I don't operate well with a lack of sleep, whereas Ash is unbelievable," he smiles. "Most of the time, if I'm tired getting up, it's because I've stayed up too late, just trying to catch up with Ash and have some time to ourselves after the kids have gone to bed. "But look, I'm not complaining because I have the privilege of getting more time with the kids than a lot of other working parents. I get home in the afternoon, and I have a lot of time with them, and I'm very conscious that a lot of people don't get that," he adds. What does he think about all the changes at 2FM in the last year or so? "From my point of view, I was upset that two people I'd become very close to were leaving. Donnacha, Doireann and I had managed to land on something with that show that was very special. We enjoyed it so much. I was really worried at the time that with them leaving the show, it would be the end of our friendship, and that's what upset me the most," he admits. "But very quickly, I realised they're not going anywhere and sure we're in touch all the time. I can't get rid of them," he laughs. "It's all settling in now, and with Roz [Purcell] and Aisling [Bonner], we've found our groove. It's a different dynamic and new personalities, but that's the thing I'm enjoying most about it. "My worry was that I would be always comparing, but we get on so well; it's different, but that's OK, and it makes it exciting," he adds. Carl grew up in Perrystown in south Dublin as the middle child with older and younger sisters. He knew Aisling from the area as they were growing up, but it wasn't until they rekindled their friendship in their 20s that things became romantic. "I was mad about her since we were kids," he smiles. Ahead of the Leaving Cert, Carl was all on for a career as a firefighter or pilot, but when it came to the crunch, he did a media degree in IT Tallaght. He was following in his father's footsteps: Don Mullan is a well-known journalist and author (The Boy Who Wanted to Fly, The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings). "My sisters are in creative roles too; Emma does video editing and Thérèse manages bands in London. She's probably the coolest of the three of us," he laughs. "Mam and Dad were always so supportive with the three of us in whatever we wanted to do. We were really lucky in that way," he adds. Carl jumped when an opportunity came up to be a reporter on the red carpet of the IFTA awards for Lyric fm in 2011, and he went for it. He admits to being so nervous that he asked Brenda Fricker about a movie she wasn't in: "She could not have been nicer, she obviously realised this guy hasn't a clue," he laughs. From there, he went to RTÉjr Radio, 2XM and Pulse and then bounced around radio as a researcher for Ryan Tubridy and a call taker for Liveline. "It gave me a real grounding in the business," he says now. "I always had a scratch I wanted to itch to be on air, but I almost felt if I said it out loud, people would think that I had this massive ego. Then one day, something clicked and I realised that no one cared about what I was doing. I was totally overthinking it. So, I started knocking on doors and asking the bosses in 2FM to meet for coffee." He got his first chance on air on St Stephen's Day in 2014 as holiday cover. There was a "technical issue" while he was on, with the result that he put the entire station off the air. "Another howler," he laughs. "Thankfully, they told me it happens to everyone at least once." From there, he did Weekend Breakfast and did bits with Nicky Byrne and Jenny Greene until the job on the Breakfast show came up. "I don't think I ever told this, but when the Breakfast show opportunity came up and I had put myself forward for it. I knew I needed to do something extra to stand out, I knew I needed to throw myself into it, so I sat down and recorded a video for the bosses in 2FM where I pitched myself. I remember hitting 'send' and thinking that either sinks me or it's what gets me the job." The gamble paid off, and he was announced in the line-up with Doireann and Donnacha in 2021. "It's been a big learning curve for me over the years, that idea that opportunity will come find you. It will not, you have to keep knocking at the doors," he reflects. At home, things were just as busy. In 2020, Aisling and Carl settled into their own home in Dublin and got their beloved dog Angie. Later that year, Carl proposed, and in August 2021, they welcomed their first child, Daibhí. He was joined by Éala in the summer of 2023 and 18 months later, by Béibhínn in January of this year. Carl says that after the arrival of Éala, he started to feel stressed, and Aisling spotted he wasn't in a good place mentally and recommended he talk to someone. He found a therapist and continues to go every few weeks when things get on top of him. "I was really struggling," he admits. "Ash said to me, 'I think you need to offload with someone'. Small things were getting to me, and it was like I was going around in a constant state of fight or flight," he says. "I meet with the therapist every six weeks to try and stay on top of things, and I've realised that I can get myself so busy with work and life that I need to give myself that moment to stop and check in with myself. "For me, it's that balance of getting enough time with the kids but also making the most of my career while things are going well, and that's hard to do," he adds. Therapy has helped the couple identify that he may have ADHD, and he's getting tested for it later this year. It was, he says, a suggestion that didn't surprise him. "I'm showing a lot of characteristics of ADHD, and I think it would make sense in how my brain works. I find it very hard to concentrate on one thing; I'm always bouncing from one thing to the next," he says. Does he allow himself time to take in how much his life has changed, both personally and professionally? "That's something I worry about sometimes. I worry that I'll look back on this period of my life and wonder did I take it all in. Because it's been such a whirlwind, but it's been incredible," he reflects. With that, Aisling joins us again, her hair in clips, outfits picked and make-up almost complete. The snippets of family life that Carl shares on social media and their new joint podcast How Are Ya Lovie underline what a good fit they are – she brings the "ogranisation that Carl needs" and they're both very supportive of each other and their careers. "People often ask how I do it all, and the answer is Ash. She's the one that keeps everything together," says Carl. "We're very good at encouraging each other in our careers and also good at taking time to ourselves, whether that's separately or as a couple. That's something we've really focused on in the last two years," adds Aisling. "That enables us to come back into the unit and be better with each other. A lot of the opportunities he's gotten have been once-in-a-lifetime stuff, so you'd have to encourage that," she adds. Their new podcast is a window into their lives, the ups and downs of marriage and parenting and is extremely relatable. "The idea for the podcast came about because we're nearly at a stage where we have to schedule time together, to get proper time to catch up. Aisling always wanted to do a podcast, but the timing was never right, so we decided to just try it out," explains Carl. "It's the mundane stuff of married and family life. We wanted people to see that we're struggling our way through it and figuring it out," says Aisling. As a paediatric nurse, Aisling's day job is very different to the work world that Carl inhabits, so how does she find dipping into it with the podcast? "It's given me a small glimpse into that world. When I'm at home with the kids, especially now on maternity leave, I say to Carl, you get to go into work and have a coffee in peace, kind of hinting that his job is easy. But after we did the first episode, I realised that you have to really be on for those 40 or 50 minutes of recording, and I was tired after that. "So, I have a little bit more understanding that he does that live every morning for three hours," she laughs, as Carl looks delighted. I ask Aisling how she reflects on the last five years. "It all just happened together and in a way that was probably a good thing. We didn't have time to think about the changes that were happening," she admits. "It's given us more perspective as well, especially having the kids. It's definitely made Carl more grounded," she laughs, "but I grew up with Carl, so I knew all along what he was capable of. It's always been part of his personality," she says proudly. What of the rumours of Carl looking for the Liveline gig? "We did a joke video of a few of us auditioning for the job but of course, because there's so much interest around who is going to replace Joe, people took it seriously, so I totally leaned into it as a joke," Carl explains. "But down the line, that's the type of show I'd see myself doing. I'd love to do it but right now I'm very happy where I am with 2FM and life; and just trying to take it all in."
