![\"Carl](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/942a4f5e-6e6b-4c51-ab54-48290e795c6d.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe presenter, who currently hosts the 2FM Breakfast alongside Roz Purcell and Aisling Bonner, was a Rose Escort in 2016.<\/p>\n
He accompanied two Roses, Scotland and Donegal, as the contest had 65 Roses that year.<\/p>\n
Mullan said he applied to be a Rose Escort as a joke when he was a reporter on RT\u00c9 2FM.<\/p>\n
“We were thinking we’d send it in, and it’s just going to come back as a straight rejection. But I did the online application. I got called for an in-person interview, and then they said: \u2018Look, you\u2019ve been accepted as an Escort\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone thinks that those lads are down here for a jolly and that they’re doing nothing. I did it once, never again. It was way too much work than I was able for, I was exhausted after doing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear to God, it was like the hardest work I’ve ever done. I remember you’d get to bed at two o’clock in the morning, having just been fulfilling your Escort duties, and then you’d be up at seven in the morning.<\/p>\n
“Everyone thinks we’re off having the craic in town. I was like: \u2018Where’s the time for this?\u2019 There is none. But it was lovely, just getting to know all of the people, and seeing the inner workings of the Rose of Tralee,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Carl Mullan. Photo: Andres Poveda<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – August 19th <\/p>\n
He said being a Rose Escort \u201cwholeheartedly\u201d changed his perspective on the festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people’s experience of the Rose of Tralee is just watching the TV show. But when you’re down here, you realise it’s so much more than that.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou realise just how far-reaching it is, and just how it plays such an important role in tying people back to not just Tralee, but to Ireland, and tapping into their Irish roots, and being proud of whatever Irish heritage they might have.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s an awful lot going on. Anything that brings people a bit of joy, let’s do more of it. When you’re going through the briefs of the Roses, there’s just some incredible women there and what they’re doing and the stories they have to tell.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s a really important part of the Rose of Tralee as well. It’s just telling amazing stories and giving people a platform to tell those stories. So that, for me, is what the Rose of Tralee is,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Dubliner was recently announced to take over the role of master of ceremonies at both live selection nights after Will Leahy stepped down after 20 years.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Irish Independent ahead of the first selection night and his debut as master of ceremonies, he described Leahy as an \u201cabsolute pro\u201d and a \u201clegend\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo follow someone like Will, it’s a great honour. It\u2019s the biggest thing,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything you need to know about Will Leahy is the fact that he was the first person on the phone to me, and he was giving me all the tips, all the pointers, all the banana skins.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing that you have someone like that on your side and helping you along the way and giving you advice is absolutely amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m just really excited for it now, especially now that I’ve arrived in Tralee, you can get a sense of the buzz around the place.\u201d<\/p>\n
RT\u00c9 presenter Will Leahy announced his decision to step down on social media on Friday.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, he wrote: \u201cAfter 20 years as the announcer\/social media presenter on the Rose of Tralee, I sadly won\u2019t be at the show this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going to miss the annual mad summer camp that I have been honoured to be a part of for all these years.<\/p>\n
“I want to wish Carl the best of luck in the job \u2013 he will be amazing, and I have left post-its all around the desk just in case. Here\u2019s looking ahead to his 20 years, and we can compare notes in 2045,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mullan said he always watched the Rose of Tralee at home with his two sisters when he was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was always a big TV moment of the year in our house. Along with the Toy Show, one of those things where if you’re ever talking to friends or family from abroad, and you’re trying to explain to them, you end up being like: \u2018Just watch it for yourself. You won’t get it unless you see it\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have two sisters, so it was a big thing in the house. So, unfortunately, my mum was disappointed, and she never got a Rose, but she got an Escort at one of the three of us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The presenter said he \u201cjust wants to do a good job\u201d, adding it\u2019s \u201cnot about him\u201d but about the Roses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s a very important part of the role. But I think there’s definitely got to be points where I’ll try and have a little bit of craic,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The presenter, who currently hosts the 2FM Breakfast alongside Roz Purcell and Aisling Bonner, was a Rose Escort…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[7699,18,117,19,17,888],"class_list":{"0":"post-8717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-adrianna-wrona","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-rose-of-tralee"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}