Emma Louise O'Driscoll (born 23 March 1982 in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Ireland) is a former Irish

pop star A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...

, turned children's television presenter and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

personality. O'Driscoll rose to fame in the 2001–2002

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

television series ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'', in which she was selected as a member of the band

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

. After the band's swift demise, O'Driscoll replaced

Mary Kingston Mary Kingston (born 29 May 1970 in Inchydoney, County Cork), is an Irish children's television presenter and philanthropist. She presented ''The Disney Club'' on RTÉ Two. She also presented ''Scratch Saturday'' and '' The Works''. Early life ...

as presenter of the morning show, ''The Disney Club''. Among other countless television appearances since then, she finished runner-up in the RTÉ reality television shows, '' Charity 252''. She has also appeared on a stamp.

Early life

O'Driscoll was born in Limerick and raised there alongside her two sisters, Julie and Georgina and her brother, Stephen. She developed an early interest in song and dance. She has received a ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' Badge and has won hip hop and

freestyling Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

championship titles in Ireland and Europe. Whilst attending the Presentation Secondary School in Sexton Street, Limerick, she began her initial move to enter ''Popstars''. She spent her spare time in the Dominican Choir and the

Bunratty Castle Bunratty Castle (, meaning "castle at the mouth of the Ratty") is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village ( ga, Bun Ráite), by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis, near Sha ...

Singers, learning her dance skills at Shape Dancing School and as a member of the Limerick dance troupe, High Voltage. She initially wished to be a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

teacher before she discovered she had been chosen as a member of Six. Her interest in teaching led to her working as a

Special Needs Assistant The levels of Ireland's education are primary, secondary and higher (often known as "third-level" or tertiary) education. In recent years further education has grown immensely with 51% of working age adults having completed higher educatio ...

in Our Lady Queen of Peace National School.

Career

Six membership

Her first show as a member of Six was at the

ChildLine Concert The ChildLine Concert, known for sponsorship reasons as the 'Cheerios ChildLine Concert', was an annual pop music charity event which took place in Ireland between 1997 and 2014. The money raised from the concerts was donated to the young perso ...

in the

Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall Qu ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, where she performed in front of 8000 people. Six released two multi-platinum selling singles, both of which reached #1 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, and also had a top five album in Ireland. Their first single, "Whole Lot of Loving" is still the fastest-selling single in Irish musical history. Six did an arena tour with

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

in England, playing a total of sixty-six shows, and two nationwide tours of Ireland.

Television

O'Driscoll was one of seven celebrities who took part in the reality series, ''Charity 252'', performed for the

People in Need Telethon The People in Need Trust was a charity in Ireland. It was deregistered in 2016. Its main fundraiser, the RTÉ People in Need Telethon, was broadcast by RTÉ from 1989 until 2007 and supported by Eircom (formerly Telecom Éireann), raising more ...

in May 2004. They were given a radio station to run 14 hours per day, with cameras watching their every move, and their progress was shown each night for a week on RTÉ Network 2. She initially turned down the offer of partaking in the reality television show. The series earned her a radio slot, co-hosting the breakfast show on

Live 95FM Live 95 is a radio station in Ireland owned by Wireless Group, broadcasting mainly to Limerick city and county, in Ireland. Radio Station are Mass Communication sites which will Give us Knowledge and Information. History The station was laun ...

. During the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

period, O'Driscoll played herself in the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

'' in the

University Concert Hall The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance wi ...

in Limerick. Her time in children's television has seen her present ''The Disney Club'' and '' Den Tots''. She also made guest appearances on '' The Cafe'' and ''

Dustin's Daily News ''Dustin's Daily News'' (DDN) is a television chat/comedy show, broadcast on RTÉ Two. A predecessor of '' The Once a Week Show'', it served as a new home for Dustin the Turkey Dustin the Turkey, a character performed by John Morrison is a fo ...

''. In 2006, O'Driscoll featured in ''Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels''. In 2009, O'Driscoll participated in

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

's reality sports show ''

Celebrity Bainisteoir ''Celebrity Bainisteoir'' was a prime-time reality programme created by Fiona Looney and first broadcast in 2008 by RTÉ. It involved a number of celebrities competing against each other as a Gaelic football team coach. The title derived from th ...

''. She bought her team to the semi-finals of the competition. In 2010, she appeared as a guest judge on ''

The All Ireland Talent Show ''The All Ireland Talent Show'' was a Raidió Teilifís Éireann television series which was billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, ...

'', with

John Creedon John Creedon (born 1958), also known as "Creedo", is an Irish language enthusiast and veteran broadcaster with RTÉ Radio. Host of ''The John Creedon Show'', weekday evenings 8-10pm on RTÉ Radio 1, he has also filled in for Dave Fanning on '' ...

for the South's regional auditions round.

Appearance on a stamp

Marking RTÉ's 50th anniversary in 2011, O'Driscoll appeared on a postage stamp, part of a set of three that also featured

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

and

Anne Doyle Anne Catherine Doyle (born 30 January 1952) is an Irish journalist, presenter and former newsreader. She is best known as a long-serving newsreader for RTÉ, who anchored the broadcaster's main evening television news programmes, during her 3 ...

References