Katja Mia (born 17 May 1996) is an Irish model, social media influencer and television presenter, known for her work on '' Ireland AM''.

Early life and education

Mia was raised in

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

, Dublin. Her parents fled war-torn

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

and sought asylum in Germany before eventually settling in Ireland. In 2018, she graduated from

Maynooth University The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It ...

, where she studied international finance, economics and German.

Career

Mia was discovered by a modelling agency in the summer of 2020 after she posted pictures online. She describes herself as "a curve model or plus sized model." In October 2022, Mia guest hosted Virgin Media Ireland's flagship morning show for a week filling in for permanent host Muireann O'Connell. One month later, in November 2022, it was announced that Mia would take up full-time hosting duties of the weekend edition of the programme alongside Martin King and Elaine Crowley. On 21 November 2023 it was announced that Mia would leave ''Ireland AM'' to join Brian Dowling as the new permanent hosts of ''The 6 O'Clock Show'' replacing Karen Koster and

Greg O'Shea Greg O'Shea is an Australian record producer, audio engineer, mix engineer and musician, who has worked extensively in Canada, most notably with k-os. Career O'Shea started his recording career at Melbourne's Metropolis Studios in 1990. He w ...

. Mia is currently participating in the seventh series of

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

Personal life

Since 2017, Mia has been in a relationship with social media influencer Daragh Curran, also known as The Guinness Guru. She has spoken openly about being a victim of racial abuse in Ireland and has spoken out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mia, Katja 1996 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Alumni of Maynooth University Irish infotainers Irish television journalists Participants in Irish reality television series Irish people of Burundian descent People from County Dublin