RTE Guide Feature February 1st 2014

I headed to the bright lights of Dublin City on Thursday the 9^th January, to the RTE studios, for my photo shoot for the RTE Guide WeightWatchers feature. My WeightWatchers leader Kathleen and I left at 7am.  When we got to RTE we meet the organisers and we were shown to our holding area, right beside the Late Late Show dressing rooms. 

Once there I met up with my fellow WeightWatchers success stories Anna Moroney and Sarah Murphy, along with WeightWatchers leader of the year Catherine Flanagan.  Also there was Margaret and Hillary from WeightWatchers Ireland, hair stylist Michael Doyle and make artists Zoe Clarke.

The ladies were taken straight away to get their hair and makeup done, while I sat relaxing drinking tea for a short while.  Our stylist Julie Cobbe from stylefish.ie joined us with the outfits for the day.  She had a range of outfits for us to try on.  I, like most men, wouldn’t be a fan of trying on clothes, so trying on different combinations of clothes wasn’t my idea of having a fun.  But I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it.  Julie knew what looked good and what didn’t. So after about an hour we decided on the outfit that suited me best for the shoot.

Next up was my hair and make up.  I have a new appreciation for what women go through to get ready for a night out.  They spend nearly 20mins on my makeup, I thought I looked great without it lol, but the makeup artist said I needed it, who was I to argue?  My hair only took about 30 seconds to do, a bit of gel and I was ready for my “Close Up”.

Down to the photography studio for my photo shoot.  Our photographer for the day was John Cooney.  He put us at ease, getting us to relax by cracking a few jokes; it was more enjoyable once we relaxed.  I did not believe that he would have to take so many photos from so many different angles, all for just 2 pages in a magazine. 

I was the first to be finished so I could relax and enjoy the rest having their photo shoot. Near the end my leader Kathleen and I got a few pics together, which are also in the feature.  We started preparing around 10.30am and it was nearly 3.30pm by the time we finished. We were all starving by this time, as we hadn’t a chance to eat all day so once we got changed we headed for the famous RTE canteen.

The whole day was a great experience.  Everything was a new for me, from having a stylist choosing my clothes to having my hair and “makeup” done.  It was a great day, even with the “makeup”. And to top it all off, we got the walk around the set of “Fair City” LOL

Below is the article as featured in the RTE Guide February 1^st - 7^th 2014