Dáithí Ó Sé: Remember people bringing baby oil on holiday…what were we doing?
Speaking to Extra.ie, the Rose of Tralee presenter laughingly recalled how taking baby oil on a sun holiday was perfectly normal behaviour not too long ago, but that now is largely a thing of the past.
He said he's gone from 'the odd splash' of factor 10 sunscreen to factor 50 every time he leaves the house, since a cancer scare two years ago. Dáithí Ó Sé. Pic: Supplied
Ó Sé told Extra.ie he doesn't 'go out any day now without factor 50', all year round. He added: 'I think people are getting a bit better at it all along, and eventually, I think it will stick.
'If you go back 10 years, there was nobody talking about this at all, or there wasn't as much. I remember people going on holiday years ago, bringing baby oil. Jesus, what are you doing? So the way we think about it has changed and is changing and needs to change more. It's very simple to just put the thing on and then you can go enjoy yourself.
'Even if it's a cloudy day, even if I'm sitting inside in the car, it's factor 50 in the morning and factor 50 in the afternoon, and even on the back of my hand when I'm driving the car.' Dáithí Ó Sé. Pic: Supplied
The TV presenter noticed a 'tiny' lump on his eyebrow some years back and brushed it off as an ingrown hair or something similarly minor.
But in early 2023, a professional examination confirmed it was more serious.
He said: 'It was only two millimetres, so I didn't think it could be much. I thought the specialist was going to freeze it out or give me some kind of cream. But she said 'No, it's going to have to come out.' I was going, 'What's going on here?'' Dáithí Ó Sé. Pic: Miki Barlok/RTE
In removing the lump, which turned out to be a localised carcinoma, doctors had to cut into the muscle around Ó Sé's eyebrow, leaving him with three internal stitches and six on the outside.
'I asked [the specialist], 'What caused this?' And she said it was sun damage from start to finish – not wearing enough sun cream?' Ó Sé said.
The popular host admitted he 'might not have taken much notice' of warnings linking sun exposure to cancer around 10 years ago, adding: 'I'd have been thinking 'I'm not getting burned, I'm fine.' That's not the case at all.'
The 49-year-old continued that he had 'never really had the time to be lying around sunbathing, but if I was going out it was always a factor 10 or factor 15 that I was group. And only three in 10 men in that age group use sunscreen regularly during the summer, compared to half of women.
The research found that men aged 18 to 35 are also chronic under-users of sunscreen, and Ó Sé puts that down to 'an educational thing'.
The Kerryman also revealed that he has adopted other healthy habits in the run-up to presenting the 2025 Rose of Tralee.
He said: 'There's no drink or anything until it's all over for me. It's just a very busy time. I want to keep my head in a good place, so I'm minding myself.'
But the 13-time host laughed that when he is 'ready to go on the beer on Tuesday night after the Rose is announced', the participants are then 'wrecked from being out all week'.
He revealed: 'I'm there [saying] 'Come on lads, I've been waiting for this now'.'
Ó Sé said the 66-year-old pageant will always be 'close to his heart' as he started dating his now wife Rita two years after she competed as the 2008 New Jersey Rose, and they now have an 11-year-old son, Micheál Óg.
Despite ever-growing criticism of the festival – seen as outdated and regressive by some – he believes it 'defends itself really'.
He said: 'It has had everything thrown at it for the last 20, 30 years about being out of date and everything. For me, why it's important and it works is that it is a celebration of Irish women. And when is a celebration of Irish women out of date? Never,' he added.
The host said that looking back through previous competitions illustrates the change in career options and life experiences of Irish women and those of the diaspora over the past few decades, adding that there is still a 'huge amount' of appetite for the festival around the country.
Ó Sé added: 'It's a really positive appetite as well, and I think people are beginning to see it for what it is. There's always begrudgers, but you're going to have begrudgers in every walk of life. And they're entitled to their opinion too.'
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