'I remember struggling in Ireland to pay for my heating' – Maura ...
Maura Higgins has told how “special” it was to gift her mother a car as she recalled her own experience of “struggling in Ireland to pay for my heating”.
The Love Island star-turned-host from Longford last night confirmed she was in a new and “very happy” relationship and reflected on her interview with ex-partner Curtis Pritchard.
Speaking to host Patrick Kielty on The Late Late Show, Higgins’ reacted to a video she shared two years ago when she surprised her mother with the gift of a new car.
"That was such a special moment for me to be able to do that for my mum,” she said.
"I remember only a few years ago struggling in Ireland to pay for my heating and buying my first car which took a long, long time – a used little red Opel Corsa.”
Higgins joked that her mother would be getting “a candle and a hug” this Christmas after she pulled out all the stops with a car.
The Longford star became a guest host and then social host on Love Island spin-offs – Love Island US and Love Island Games – this summer, spending her time in Fiji.
She said she had worries that the American audience would not understand her, but “never had any problems”.
Love Island Games featured a string of former contestants, including Higgins’ ex Curtis Pritchard.
Curtis Pritchard and Maura Higgins (Getty)
The pair left the villa together in 2019 and finished in fourth place, though later split.
Asked how their reunion on the show went with Higgins as the host and Pritchard as a contestant, the reality star said: "For me it was fine because I was just doing my job, it wasn’t awkward for me. I treated him like every other contestant.”
On whether her ex-partner felt differently about the interaction, Higgins laughed: “I never asked him.”
The star first came to screens on her own season of Love Island in 2019, though she went on to compete on Dancing on Ice and host shows like Glow Up.
"My life has changed with my whole career and everything but one thing about me is I’ll always stay humble and that’s never going to change. If anything, I’m probably worse the older I get. Well, I’m probably more honest. I feel like the older you get you just really don’t care, you know?”
Asked what her response would be if she was approached to host Love Island, she said: "I’d say, ‘I’ve done it, so why not do it again?’”
Kielty then gave his own rendition of the Love Island host signature ‘walk’ through the RTÉ Montrose campus before conversation turned to Higgins’ love life.
The host said: “Last time you were on this show, you were still single ready to mingle. And now I believe you are…?”
“I am no more single. Very happy relationship,” Higgins replied, adding that her new partner was in the audience last night.
She is in Ireland to visit family and “have a few pints and a bit of craic,” she said: "It’s always nice to be home, Ireland will always be my home at the end of the day”.
