Travelling Light
She was the face of No Frontiers for a decade but when that show ended Kathryn Thomas had to reinvent herself. So she put away her rucksack and took a job presenting Winning Streak. Then Gerry Ryan passed away and she found herself stepping into his shoes on Operation Transformation. In a revealing interview she discusses her ‘rivalry’ with Grainne Seoige over hosting The Voice, losing her virginity at 17 – and why RTE needed to stop paying its stars so much.
Olaf Tyaransen, 21 Mar 2012
Yeah, I was a bit of a chubster as a kid. Not that it ever really badly affected me. I got the slagging and all that. I was quite resilient and hid behind a bit of bravado, two fingers to you type thing. Once I got into boarding school there was a lot of sport that was compulsory, football, hockey... also as a woman, a lot of what I was carrying at that stage was puppy fat. Today people go, “You look great”, or whatever. Like any woman, I have hang-ups. I’m not the skinniest woman in the world. I would definitely be athletic in frame. I love my food, love my wine, love my cheese. I have to watch what I eat. I don’t at the weekend, it all goes out the window. I have to be at the gym or be out walking the dogs because I am prone to putting on weight. I do need to work at it, but I enjoy exercising, I’m in the gym twice a week.
There were a lot of press rumours about intense competition between yourself and Gráinne Seoige for The Voice...
Ah, they do that anyway because female televison jobs are few and far between. And it was the biggest show coming up, and it was the fact that The All Ireland Talent Show was her show. So they fuelled it more than necessary. But she was going for the job, I was going for the job, four or five other people were going for the job. It was competitive in the sense that we all wanted it. But no more competitive between me and her than it was between me and anybody else. As I said, she was very gracious about it, and she’s doing so well over in the UK...
Is there much solidarity between female TV presenters?
I really think there is. I’ve always had support whether it’s from Gráinne or Miriam O’Callaghan or even Anna Nolan who is now working on Operation Transformation. There’s this media creation that it’s all cat fights and bitch fights at dawn, but not at all.
When was the last time you cried?
Last night watching The Voice! Even though I’d bloody done the voiceover and watched it twice before anyone else had seen it... I cry at everything though. I very nearly did today. We were doing the weigh-ins at Operation Transformation and it’s the last time with the five leaders before they finish their journey next Sunday. And they’ve worked really hard and it sounds so clichéd but it’s life-changing stuff. You’re with these people week in, week out. And it’s great to see people succeeding. Whether it’s Operation Transformation or The Voice, I love seeing people succeed.
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Olaf Tyaransen
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