Latest news with #Magazine+
Sunday World
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Online star Dympna Little on grief, lip filler and how Instagram has changed her life
SHOOTING THE SKIT | Mullingar woman Dympna Little has grown an army of online fans for her darkly funny skits, but tells Deirdre Reynolds it's not all about clicks 'People are so invested in the lips,' she laughs. 'I don't know why they're so interested. 'I paid for it, but I said to the doctor that was doing it, 'I might just record a bit, people are obsessed with these f**king [lips]. I bet they'll be sharing, 'Oh, she got the lips dissolved'.' 'I looked yesterday … I think it was over a million views!' In fact, since sitting down with Magazine+ this week, the characteristically honest video has been watched 1.2m times, and counting. Then again, it is her lippy brand of comedy that has turned the dental nurse from Westmeath into an online sensation in the space of a few short years. Better known as @dimplestilskin on Instagram, she's gone from sharing funny skits with just a few family members on WhatsApp to growing an online fanbase of 224k people all over the world with her distinctly Irish gallows humour. 'It blows my mind,' begins Dympna, who still works in a dental practice. 'It's crazy. 'To be honest with you, I always thought if I just got 10,000 followers that was really good, and I was on 10,000 for about three years [on TikTok], the darker humour was better accepted over there. I slowly started posting onto Instagram, then it just kind of blew up. Dympna with her mum Lily 'People are very nice to me out and about. They'll come [up] and tell me, line for line, a video that I made years ago; I'm going, 'I'm just so happy that you got the joke!' 'So, like, I appreciate people following me, but the number doesn't really affect me any more — if 50 people think the video is funny, I'm happy.' Despite her massive following, unlike many online personalities, Dympna has chosen not to plug products on her page, giving her the freedom to skewer influencer culture, as with her breakthrough video in 2023, which she recalls going viral 'for all the wrong reasons'. 'It was me making fun of people who record themselves [giving money to] homeless people, it's not a good deed if you're recording yourself — kind of along those lines. 'I had just come back from having eye surgery in Turkey, so my face was quite swollen, so I looked like a f**king monster,' she jokes. 'Everyone was sharing it like, 'Oh my God, what is that?' All the comments were like, 'What's wrong with your face?' 'In the beginning, I was like, 'I don't know if I'm able for this'. 'Then I was like, d'ya know the way every town has a looper, and they shout mad things at you for no reason walking by? You wouldn't start crying because they said it to you. 'No matter what you put up, someone's going to say something bad about you,' she adds. 'It doesn't affect me anymore, not at all. You do develop a very thick skin.' Far outweighing that nastier side of finding Insta fame, in any case, is the virtual 'hug' of support she felt from her followers after the death of her mother, Lily, aged 69, to cancer in December, shares Dympna, who is now also using her platform to petition the Irish Government to pay a €500 wig grant directly to oncology patients, rather than hairdressers. 'By the thousands and thousands,' she says of the kind responses that flooded in to her emotional videos about missing her mam, not to mention the funny ones about dealing with doctors or country funerals. 'Very similar stories just going, 'I know how you feel', and they'll kind of tell me stuff about their mam as well. 'Sometimes I do burst out crying, and I have to stop and try [to] record again. Then when I post it, I go, 'Oh God, I was crying on the internet, that's embarrassing'. Dympna, aka dimplestilskin, received an outpouring of love after her mum Lily died in December News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025 'You do feel very vulnerable … but it's just grief in real time, I suppose. 'There was a lot of people who felt like they kind of got to know mammy during [her illness], and mammy knew them. They were all lighting candles for mammy — she was so grateful. 'When she died, it felt like I had this hug from everyone, and it was nice. 'I know people give out about social media and everything, but it can be a good way of just venting the everyday stuff,' she continues. 'Sometimes you feel like, 'I'm definitely the only person that feels this, there's something wrong with me'. Then someone goes, 'That's how I feel', and they often describe it better than I can, and you don't feel as alone with things.' Now, as well as cutting back on filler, Dympna is cutting back on the filters too, feeling more comfortable in her own skin on social media and beyond. 'Extremely painful,' she describes reversing the cosmetic injectable she got eight years ago. 'My lips just shrunk down to nothing, they were like a cat's arse, where it [temporarily] dissolves all your own [hyaluronic acid] as well, so it takes a while for them to come back. 'I was blessed with big lips anyway, so I don't know why I got lip filler, if I'm honest with you — I should have just left them alone. I knew they were ducky looking, and then when I got online, people were like, 'Oh my God, your lips — you look like a duck!' 'But then people moved on … no one really mentions it anymore, so I was like, 'OK, now it's time', because I was too defiant to do it when they were at me about it. 'For a long time, when I started making the videos, I was too conscious of myself so I was using filters,' she says. 'In my head, I felt like there had to be some sort of separation between me and the video. I'm probably a bit more myself [now] than the early days.' One thing that won't change, the Mullingar native promised, should she realise her dream of making a career out of comedy, is her truth (and, indeed, F) bomb-dropping style. 'My brain is always in video mode,' Dympna says of getting inspiration from 'the most irrelevant thing'. 'I'm lucky that way, I never have to sit down and think of a video. 'I mightn't think of one for days, and I'm like, 'Oh that's it, all the videos are gone, I've no more ideas, ever' … and then the next day I could have 12 ideas.' Often to the peril of family and friends, she laughs: 'It happens all the time [where] people are like, 'Don't make a video out of that'... as if I would!'
Sunday World
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Hozier credits being from Ireland as the key to keeping his feet on the ground
Ten years on from Take Me To Church making him a star, Hozier is re-releasing his hit self-titled album on vinyl. Irish pop superstar Hozier is marking the 10th anniversary of his hit self-titled album that featured Take Me To Church and put him on the world around the world with a new vinyl release. It comes after a spectacular year that saw Wicklow man Hozier top charts across the globe, including America, with his Too Sweet single. Alongside the vinyl release comes a brand new remix of his song, Like Real People Do featuring NATURE. Hozier's track is part of the Sounds Right project, a collaboration with the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live, which aims to showcase nature itself as an artist. Sounds Right is a global music initiative to recognise the value of nature and inspire millions of fans to take environmental action. By streaming or listening to the song, listeners will be contributing 50 per cent of the royalties to frontline conservation in the world's most precious and precarious ecosystems. Hozier's track is part of the Sounds Right project. Since NATURE was launched as an official artist last year, millions have listened and directed real funding to communities protecting the planet's most vital ecosystems. The nature sounds that add an element of magic to the new version of Like Real People Do were recorded in Hozier's native Co Wicklow. 'It features bird song, cricket song, rain fall and thunder of my beloved home of Wicklow,' Hozier says. By infusing the hauntingly beautiful folk tones with the ethereal sounds of nature, the collaboration creates a stunning version of the Hozier fan favourite. Talking about the vinyl release of his debut album, Hozier, who will play this year's Electric Picnic on Friday, August 29, says: 'It's an album that very much changed my life and it's the reason that we're still playing around the world to this day. Looking back on the success of Take Me To Church, Hozier admits he never expected it to become such a global phenomenon. 'I was always proud of Take Me To Church and excited about it because I managed to get all these ideas into the song,' Hozier says. 'But I certainly didn't see it as a Top 10 hit. I thought maybe people would like it or appreciate it and that's what you hope for.' Hozier, who wrote Take Me To Church in the attic of his family home in Greystones, ended up getting a Grammy nomination for the track. 'All of a sudden, your name is next to somebody like Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran,' he says. 'Initially, that is as surreal as anyone could think because they are such distant, intangible icons.' When asked by Magazine+ how he felt about the term Superstar now in front of his name, Hozier laughed: 'It's a bit of an odd term. There's a great myth about stardom or fame because you don't feel any different, you're just very, very busy. 'I didn't buy into it. I didn't internalise it, and I think that's really the trick. I think there's a real mistake you can make beliveing your own hype and your own bullsh*t. You have to keep a distance between yourself and the smoke that people are tyring to blow up your ass.' Coming from a normal Irish background has helped him to keep his feet on the ground, he says. Hozier told me: 'I think, if nothing else, what the Irish are good at is maintaining normality and keeping our heads. 'You are not allowed to get carried away with the whole thing, especially if you have close Irish friends around you. 'Everyone tears lumps out of each other. We slag each other off and have a great laugh. I think that disrespect for everything is a healthy Irish trait.' He's got a great sense of humour and when asked about the fact that he's had the odd bra thrown up on stage during his live performances, Hozier quipped: 'I'd rather a bra than a brick.'
Sunday World
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Ireland's rising country star aiming high after becoming radio hit
Singer and Today FM country music presenter Clodagh Lawlor says she's ready for anything and now has her sights set on a television music show. Rising star Clodagh Lawlor reveals how landing her own country music show on Today FM has given her career a massive boost — and introduced her to one of her idols. Singer and now radio presenter Clodagh, who is a native of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, first shot to fame when she won The Late Late Show search for a country star in 2019 and landed the opportunity to tour with Nathan Carter. But she tells Magazine+ that her new Wednesday night country music show on Today FM has taken her to another level. Clodagh says: 'I just love that people know my name now and tell me 'oh, we listen to you on the radio.' 'I'm manifesting that I'll have a music show on RTE television next. That's what I'd love, something like The Kelly Clarkson Show… The Clodagh Lawlor Show. 'I have my boots on now and I said it at the start of the year that this year is going to be my year. When I was in Nashville with my mother we met a guy who was working in the Boot Barn store… we were chatting away and he said he was also a songwriter, adding: 'I just wrote a song for Tim McGraw and he's going to hopefully cut [record] it.' He said to my mam, 'When preparation meets opportunity nothing can stop ya.' Clodagh with Lainey Wilson 'You are prepared so much in your lifetime for these things to happen. Now I'm like, throw anything at me and I'll be ready because I'm finally comfortable in my own skin.' A fan of America's contemporary country music stars, Clodagh is now getting the opportunity to meet and interview them thanks to her Today FM show. 'I'm now getting to meet my idols on a huge scale,' she tells me. 'I was so excited meeting Lainey Wilson when she headlined the C2C festival in Belfast recently. They always say never meet your idols, but she was so incredible. Clodagh takes the mic at Today FM on Wednesday nights News in 90 Seconds - May 17th 'She was also so encouraging to me. Lainey herself didn't have overnight success and that's what I love as well. She said, 'Girl, I should have given up a hell of a long time ago. I'm 15 years in Nashville and I should have left after year two and I didn't.' She just kept the head down. 'She was asking me how long I was doing the radio job and I told her 'two months!' She said, 'You're a natural.' 'I was 30 at the weekend and she said, 'when I was 30 things just started to happen. I was doing a lot before that but nobody really saw me.' 'In the Irish country music scene I was trying to figure out what I really want to look like and sound like and what kind of artist I want to be. 'But I'm getting the idea of who I want to be now and that's exciting for me, that I finally know what I want to do and I know I can do it and I can sit there with the likes of Lainey Wilson and not be so starstruck that it's written all over my face. Put me in any situation now and I can do it. Country singer and Today FM country music presenter Clodagh Lawlor 'I absolutely love the radio, it's such a different side of things. I always said when I was growing up that I want to be in the entertainment business, regardless of what I do. Once it revolves around country music that's what I'd be happy with. I live, breathe and eat it. I just love it so much. 'Country music is getting so big as you know. Now nightclubs are tapping into it and playing country nights. It's so commercial nowadays that all kinds of people are now embracing it. 'I recently got my first DJ job where I'm playing country music for four hours in a nightclub. Never in my life did I think I was going to be behind the decks. I have a month to get my DJ skills in order before I do it. It's the radio that opened that door for me as well.' Despite being in a good place career-wise, Clodagh admits that she still panics about the future. 'I'm an awful panicker,' she admits. 'When I turned 30 at the weekend I was crying the whole time because it just hit me with emotion that life has to begin now. I feel so bad about it because at the same time I feel that there's nothing that can stop me really.' Clodagh has weathered many storms in her career. Her star was shining in 2019 after winning the Late Late Show search for a new country star, but then Covid shut down the live entertainment business. 'That was a shock because I was worried about people forgetting me,' she admits. 'I was only getting started, introducing myself to people and getting my name established and I was afraid that people wouldn't remember who I was when the pandemic was over. I'd only had my 15 minutes of fame on the Late Late Show the previous year. 'But, looking back today, I'm thankful that Covid actually gave me the chance to figure out the type of artist I wanted to be. I wouldn't be the type of performer I am today doing concerts and shows if it wasn't for that time. 'I found what I want to do looking back on the records Mum and Dad had at home and reliving the '90s country music with women like [American stars] Martina McBride, Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood… and that helped me to figure out where I was going with my music.' Clodagh, who once worked as ground staff with Aer Lingus in Shannon Airport — 'I remember people like Jamie Dornan, Tommy Tiernan and Shaggy checking in' — adds that whatever happens in her career, Ireland will always be her home. 'Ireland is a beautiful country and I am so fortunate that there is a great country music scene here,' she says. Tune in to Country Hits with Clodagh Lawlor on Today FM every Wednesday from 10pm to 12am.
Sunday World
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Rising Irish star on the heartache that inspired the songs behind his sudden rise
The Irish singer says he manifested his success in the music biz, but he's had his challenges along the way so far. Bradley Marshall's career took off after posting music on TikTok during Covid Bradley Marshall's career took off after posting music on TikTok during Covid He's on his way to becoming Ireland's next big pop star, but Bradley Marshall is taking it all in his stride. The 24-year-old singer and songwriter from Dublin's Tallaght today reveals the personal challenges and heartaches that keep him grounded. Bradley tells Magazine+ that he was bullied at school, had his heart broken in relationships and has been coping with the trauma of psoriasis skin disease. His career took off after he started posting music on TikTok during Covid. And he wrote his debut single, Lost, during lockdown. Bradley Marshall on stage Since then, Marshall has gone from strength to strength. His 2023 hit, Perfect For Me, became a global phenomenon, was featured as the soundtrack to a scene on Love Island and is a popular wedding song earning him a dedicated fanbase along the way. His songs often draw from his own experiences, tackling themes of love, loss, and self-discovery with unflinching honesty. Looking back on his early life, Bradley says that his reputation as a singer made him popular with girls at school, which in turn led to him being taunted by his male contemporaries. 'I had a great childhood, great friends… kicking football on the road for six or seven hours a day,' Bradley recalls as he chats by Zoom from his home in Tallaght. 'But growing up singing wasn't easy, to be honest, because around this area being a man and singing wasn't the normal thing. If you sang as a male here you were gay… that's the type of stuff I used to get thrown at me a lot in the school corridor. 'I used to sing in the school yard and girls would chase me around the yard to sing songs. Looking back now I think the reaction of the guys was jealousy.' Bradley Marshall's career took off after posting music on TikTok during Covid Before becoming a full-time singer, Bradley studied business management in college. 'I was also an electrician when I left school,' he says. 'And I worked in a bookies, a cinema, a pet shop… I had so many jobs, but always in the back of my mind was the music. You need all those experiences to be able to tap into songs.' Speaking about dealing with psoriasis he says: 'Growing up and having psoriasis affected my mental health because of my appearance. 'It's a really hard condition to get by with. When I was in college at 18 or 19 years old it was all over my hands. I used to wear gloves to college, so it was quite a tough time for me. 'But I'm starting to embrace it now. I guess it's who I am, it's just a part of me. I'm also letting other people know who have psoriasis or eczema that it's OK to be yourself. Showing your vulnerability is really important.' Marshall says he has 'manifested' his success as a recording artist and singer. 'It's down to hard work and believing in yourself, but also putting it out to the universe,' he explains. 'I always believed in myself and getting signed last year [by Capitol Records] was always something that I believed would happen. Having a positive mindset all the time when negative things are happening is so important. 'But success to me is touching people's lives with your songs. I got a message off a girl not too long ago about my song called You'll Be Okay. A friend of mine tried to commit suicide a few years ago and I wrote a song to them saying basically, 'you'll be okay.' 'The person told me that they were in a car, they really wanted to drive into a wall and then they heard the song on the radio and that stopped them from doing it. People talk about numbers in terms of your success, but if you can touch someone's heart and change their perspective on life that's success to me, that's what I really try for.' His songs of love and loss also come from a personal place. Has he had his heart broken? 'Yeah, absolutely I have,' Bradley admits. 'I think that's the story of my life to be honest, but maybe I'll fall in love soon and the happy songs will start coming out.'
