Bláthnaid Treacy is recovering from a hectic night of filming when we meet for our interview, but she is showing no hint of tiredness.The presenter is busy at the moment through her role presenting Can’t Stop Dancing, the spin-off for the hit show Dancing with the Stars.
Bláthnaid Treacy is recovering from a hectic night of filming when we meet for our interview, but she is showing no hint of tiredness.
The presenter is busy at the moment through her role presenting Can’t Stop Dancing, the spin-off for the hit show Dancing with the Stars.
However, Bláthnaid is already familiar to younger audiences through RTÉ’s TwoTube, as well as her coverage of festivals such as Electric Picnic and as host of the National Chart Show on 2FM.
With TwoTube ending this February after a four-year run, she is happy to be making the transition to a wider audience on her most high-profile gig to date.
“I’m absolutely thrilled. It was perfect timing for me,” she says. “After TwoTube ended, I decided to leave that part of my career and move on to something else. I was obviously working hard, knocking on doors and stuff, and then this opportunity came about.
“I honestly don’t want it to end, we’re having so much fun.”
Bláthnaid’s demeanour is bubbly and friendly – despite leaving work the night before at around midnight – and it is clear she has lots of ambition.
“I think there are opportunities for new talent but you have to put yourself forward as well. There is a lot of hard work involved that I don’t think people realise.”
Bláthnaid studied Irish and archaeology in college before undertaking a course in TV and film. Her first gig was presenting a travel show on TG4, though she had not planned on being in front of the camera.
“I initially wanted to be the camera operator and they basically said: ‘No, we want you to present it.’ That beats lugging around a camera, so I did it,” she laughs. “It was really good and was IFTA nominated. Then RTÉ got in touch after the show aired and asked me to come in and audition for TwoTube. It all kicked off from there.”
Glenroe
Being in front of a camera isn’t unusual for Bláthnaid, who spent 13 years on screen as Denise Byrne, Miley and Biddy’s daughter on Glenroe. Her mother applied for the role after seeing an ad in the local paper. With the family living in Bray and the show filmed down the road, producers paid a visit to the house to “screen test” the young Bláthnaid.
“I wasn’t crying and I had a curl on the top of my head – Miley had curly hair – and that was it anyway,” she adds. “It was really manageable. I obviously wasn’t one of the main characters, I was just on the side buzzing in and out. It was grand and we filmed after school hours and only once or twice a week. It was just the norm. I grew up doing it so it wasn’t weird.”
The show came to an end in 2001 when Bláthnaid was 13 and starting secondary school.
“It was a good age to finish up – when you’re 13 it’s such an awkward phase. It’s the worst. Everyone knows becoming a teenager is the worst craic. I was in first year and oh my God the last thing you want is to stand out at that age.”
Would she ever consider a return to acting, we wonder. The answer is an empathetic no.
“Jesus, I’m not good at acting at all,” she laughs. “I’m good at interviewing actors but I was never an actor.”
However, she did revisit her television roots through a documentary, Well Holy God, It’s Glenroe, which aired in 2015 and was the third most watched show that year. This is something Bláthnaid wants to explore more in future.
“I kind of dipped my toe into the documentary stuff with the Glenroe documentary. That was my idea and I got it commissioned. I would have liked a more hands-on approach to another documentary. I have a few more ideas so I would love to make some more,” she says.
Indeed, Bláthnaid certainly does not lack enthusiasm and is keen to explore many avenues – making her one to watch in the future.
“I’d love to try loads of things,” she says. “I’d love some sort of talk show where there are no barriers and you can say what you want and it’s not so controlled. I love people like Chelsea Handler (US presenter) because she does her own thing and she does not care.
“But I’m not one of these people who likes to have a rigid plan to stick to. I like to keep my eyes open and see what’s happening. If I see opportunities, I go for it.”
Can’t Stop Dancing airs on RTÉ One on Fridays at 8.30pm. Bláthnaid also presents the National Chart Show on 2FM on Fridays from 8pm.
Read more
ICL meets Dancing With The Stars' Aidan O’Mahony and his wife Denise Healy
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: