The Cork telly star returned to RTÉ’s Today Show after a summer abroad with her young family
Sinead Kennedy for RSVP Magazine(Image: Anna Groniecka)
Sinead Kennedy is back on our screens on the Today Show, one of RTÉ‘s most popular afternoon shows. The Ballincollig woman became a household name over 23 years ago on Saturday morning kids’ TV before going on to host various loved TV shows, including Winning Streak, The Big Money Game and Today.
But away from the cameras, Sinead is a fun-loving Cork mum who juggles her very public work in the TV studio with a private family life, including a long-distance marriage to her husband Conor. She had a Christmas catch-up with RSVP magazine and opened up about her updates and the big move back to Ireland after spending the summer in Brussels, where her husband lives.
Sinead, welcome back on our screens and back to Ireland. How was your summer in Brussels?
Thank you. It was wonderful. I’ve had every summer there for the last few years, and it’s just so lovely. The weather is so nice. It’s just time together as a family, which a lot of people get all the time, but that isn’t our day-to-day. It’s just wonderful to be able to be in one place and not be on a plane. We literally had a really lazy summer in Brussels, and it was idyllic. It was absolutely perfect. Now, we did come home to Ireland to see Oasis, and it was brilliant. So that was my personal highlight in the sense of the things that we did, but it was great to be able to spend every day together, which for us is something we don’t take for granted.
Sinead Kennedy for RSVP Magazine(Image: Anna Groniecka)
Is that hard, Sinead – you living in Ireland with the kids and Conor, your husband, living in Brussels?
It is. Conor and I were so used to it, as he was in Cork when I was in Dublin. We did that for a really long time. You get used to it, but it doesn’t mean you like it. But when you have kids, everything changes, and you want to spend all your time together. I was with him when he moved over initially, and we found out I was pregnant with Indie.
I came back to Ireland to finish some work I was doing on a radio documentary, and then Covid happened. It was such a strange time because we couldn’t see each other. When I left, I was six weeks pregnant, and we didn’t see each other again until I was 20 weeks pregnant. He got back for Christmas but had to do the isolation, so it hasn’t been the most straightforward road. It is hard being apart. It is hard on him not seeing the kids every day, and it is hard on me not having him around to help or when they are asking for him. Flights back and forth also take their toll. It is exhausting for both of us in different ways; it is hard for both of us in different ways, but that is where we are at. So you try not to complain and realise we are lucky, with our family, and we both do jobs that we love.
It is for a finite amount of time; we are just not overthinking it. I am not a big future planner anyhow, which is not necessarily a good thing. Conor is great like that. He is the yin to my yang. We’re quite different in that regard. I’m very present-day, living for today and living for the next day. I might think ahead for the next few months, but that is as far as I will worry! Obviously, the long-term plan is Cork, which will be our home, but Belgium is a wonderful place to have a second home. A place I had never darkened the door of before, and I highly recommend it.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder?
You know what? For a few years, I suppose, I could argue that to myself. But absence is hard; there’s no point pretending otherwise. The kids miss him, and he misses them, but for now, we just maximise family time at the weekends. We prioritise family time. And that’s the way we deal with this, and I’ll have a few weeks there for Christmas when I’m off, and we’ll just park ourselves in Brussels and chill.
Will you spend all of Christmas in Brussels?
Well, I’d say we’ll have Christmas dinner in Ireland. We’ve never had it in Belgium. So, a few days in Ireland, but for the most part of the Christmas break, we’ll spend it in Belgium. So it will be lovely. There is usually a bit of snow. I love Christmas. I am buzzing. I’m that person who’s like, ‘Get the tree up as soon as possible.’ I usually wait for the Late Late Toy Show. And I love leaving it up, so I look forward to putting it up with Conor and the kids this year.
You are back on screen for Today with Dáithi every Monday and Tuesday – that show is going from strength to strength after 14 years.
I believe it is the longest-running daytime TV show now. 14 years is incredible. Now I wasn’t there for all of them or even close, but it is a lovely show to work on. The team is great. They are always trying to refresh it and listen to the audience, taking their opinions on board and making the show reflect the audience of the day. Making the show as interactive as possible, be it on socials or throughout the show with comments, questions and queries. I love that side of it because you can’t plan; I just love the live element. I love the chaos of it because anything can happen. It is what I love most about the job, the stuff you can’t prepare for. I am like, bring it on. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like work. I’m one of those very lucky people. I get to rock in, have a great time, and have a hot coffee. It is a break, all the moms out there will agree. Working at home is busy, hard and often underappreciated. I get to have the best of both worlds, working in the studio a few days a week and home the other days, which is lovely to have when they are so young.
Sinead Kennedy on The Today Show(Image: Instagram)
Do you have a good support network at home in Cork?
It wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support network I have. My mom’s amazing, and my dad is great. My sister’s brilliant. I have an incredible child minder. I have a wonderful team that’s around me in Cork. If I’m ever in Dublin for work, my in-laws are there. They’re equally fabulous. It really does take a village. But the trick is not to wear the grandparents out; don’t overdo it. My mother was saying the house was so quiet during the summer without the kids. They’re all so excited to see each other now, and it’s more of a novelty.
Do you have plans for any more radio documentaries or a podcast?
I would love to say I’ve loads of things in the pipeline, and I’m very creative at the moment, with loads going on. But with two small kids, my job on Today and bouncing over and back to Brussels, my plate is full, and I am happy enough with that. I certainly spent a lot of my younger years on TV, always wondering, ‘What’s next?’
I was on Winning Streak for 10 years, and I loved it. That’s when I managed to do all my documentaries as well, but it takes so much of your time to be able to do that. I pour myself into that work. I’m definitely not going to be adding to my current workload for now, but I will explore more in the future. I do want to be producing more and making more documentaries. This is something I’m really passionate about. Podcasts, I don’t know. But I would love to try a bit of radio. It’s funny, I’ve never done radio in all the years. It’s not something I’ve pursued because I’ve always been busy on telly. Radio is something I would like to get involved in, just trying to branch out and see what it’s like.
I have been in this industry since I was 19, and I am now 42. I am there for so long. I used to worry so much when I was younger, ‘What’s the next gig going to be?’ whereas now, I have a lot of experience, a lot of live hours under my belt. I’m either going to be good for a gig or not. You either like me or you don’t. I’m a good fit, or I’m not. I accepted that a long time ago, and I’m happy where I am. I think Today is a great fit for me. So I’m not thinking about what’s next. Maybe Today will break all records, and I will retire on it, but who knows? I’m not generally somebody who worries too far into the future. And I don’t have enough energy at the moment to worry about things that I have no control over. I just come in, I do my job, 1 go home, I had a good time. Then I’m home in the evening, I put the kids to bed, and the next day is the next day, and that’s it.
Are you loving motherhood?
I love spending time with my kids. Before them, it was all work; I didn’t even have a hobby. Having kids has changed me and given me a bit more perspective, and given me a life outside of my job as well. I think, certainly, in the TV side of things or front of house as some people call it, you can get caught up in how fickle it is and how insecure and then that can start to play on you and how you’re perceived and all that.
I don’t go to events or openings, and that has nothing to do with being a mom. I haven’t done that for a long, long time. It’s rare that I would go to something, because I love the job. I don’t necessarily want to be out there having my picture taken and going to things. I just don’t, I probably seem anti-social, or certainly in my job, completely and utterly bizarre. I know people, and people certainly outside of the industry, love the idea of photoshoots, covershoots and parties. While that’s all glam and fabulous, it’s just not my comfort zone. Obviously, around the show coming back, this is publicity for the show, like a shoot with you guys, and it is nice, but that is it then.
You disappear for the summers, even off social media!
I do laugh at myself sometimes because, in this day and age, social media is seen as such a foundation to my career. It’s a huge part of what we do now on TV. My last grid post was probably a week before we left the Today Show for the summer, but I will post when we are back now. During the summer, I just switched off from the online world. I had a very present summer. It’s just not in me to be posting every second of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching other people live their day-to-day lives. I’m quite private as well. I’m not going to be sharing the kids, and the kids are my whole world. So, like, if I’m not sharing what I’m doing, then what am I doing?
Have you never shared your children in public or online?
No. And that is completely irrespective of the job I’m in. It has nothing to do with that. We made a choice not to share our kids online, because their image is their own, and I think it is for them to choose what they will do with their image when they are older. It is not only a safety thing, which I am well aware of, having worked on a documentary a few years ago about the dangers of the online world, but it is their choice. The internet is not necessarily a safe place, so why would I put them out there?
You turned 42 recently. How was that?
Well, I was on a flight back to Ireland, but we celebrated the day before. I’m always so grateful for another year. I have friends who are no longer with us, who aren’t in that position. I have my family and loved ones, and you just think, God, you’d be so grateful to be here. We only get one chance at this. I want to spend this time connecting with the people I love, not buried in my phone. These are the good old days, as they say.
Do you have a degree in psychology?
I do, and I have a Master’s in mental health science. Back when I was in RTÉ’s young people’s programming, I felt I needed the backup plan. You learn so much there, as it’s on your feet with kids and animals, but it is a really hard department to get out of. It is hard to move on from a career in young people and into normal entertainment. I had seen so many of my colleagues suddenly out of work. It is a fickle industry. I went straight into RTE at 19, and I missed those college years, so I studied by night for years to get my degrees in Psychology. I don’t think it is a road I will go down; you need to be chartered, but I am glad I did it, and it is valuable as I work with people so much.
You grew up in RTE, really. Have you changed much over the years besides the obvious?
I would have been more naive when I was younger; I would take everyone at their word, that they play by the rules I play by, but I am definitely not anymore. I am more guarded in my own life. The older you get, the more confident you get, and you care less what people think or how you are going to be perceived. You are who you are, and if you don’t like me, that is fine.
We love your sense of fashion!
Thank you. My day-to-day is so casual, but I do love an excuse to get dressed up, and I do love fashion. I love experimenting. I think we can take ourselves too seriously. People are generally lovely about what I wear on TV, but the odd time I go very bold or dye my hair pink, it’s a hairstyle or an outfit, and the next day it will be different. I like to have a bit of fun. And I get so much abuse for my laugh. It is marmite, but it is who I am; I can’t help it. I was told once by a former producer that if I wanted to go far in this industry, I would want to sort out my laugh!
What is it like working with Dáithi?
I love him. He’s just the best craic. The slagging that goes on when we are not on air. Seriously, he’s very easy to work with, and I’ve been very fortunate to be there with him.