0 Comments | Mail on Sunday (London, England), The, Dec 13, 2009
Byline: Joanne Hegarty SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR
SHE was the outsider from TV3 nobody would have predicted would snatch the coveted job from under the nose of her RTE contemporaries.
But it’s official: Maura Derrane will join Sheana Keane on the Afternoon Show sofa for good.
Two months after her first tentative appearance on the daytime TV sofa, the Galway woman has finally been told: you’ve got the job.
The vacancy arose earlier this year after the shock departure of Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh at the end of the last series.
And over the first few weeks of this series, station chiefs made it clear that they wanted to weigh up all their options.
Which is why viewers of the flagship afternoon show were treated to first Sile Seoige – herself a veteran of the late-lamented Seoige Show – and then Maura getting to grips with the arduous task of discussing the latest fashions, tasting hastily assembled snacks and being bowled over at the latest Hollywood gossip.
But even though show insiders indicated early on that Maura enjoyed a better rapport with her co-presenter, station chiefs persisted in insisting that no decision had been taken in relation to the future of the show. But the announcement will be seen as a blow to the younger sister of Grainne Seoige who was allowed to return to the subs’ benches after a reported lack of ‘spark’ with her co-host.
This weekend, RTE released a statement confirming that her rival Maura will co-present the show – and which at last accords her some praise for her hard work over the past two months.
‘Maura brings a lot of character and fun to the show,’ said Niamh Farren, RTE’s acting commissioning editor of daytime and lifestyle programming.
‘The response to her from the audience has been hugely positive, not just through feedback directly to the show via Twitter, Facebook and phone calls, but also via the ratings which demonstrate a real appetite for her easy, down-to-earth warmth and humour.’ Certainly, Maura’s role on the show looked certain after ratings increased to an average of 129,000 viewers each day, the highest in some time. Show insiders are now hopeful that the recent air of uncertainty will be dispelled and that everybody can relax into their jobs.
As for Maura, the former crime correspondent made no secret of her delight. ‘I am enjoying every minute of it. I feel really at home and I really enjoy working with Sheana,’ she said.
Though light in nature, the show has been gripped by controversy since co-presenter Sheana Keane temporarily left the show early this year. It soon emerged that she had lodged a complaint of bullying against colleague Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh
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