‘Morale is at an all-time low in RTE’ — Kathryn
KATHRYN Thomas believes 2020 will be a year of hope and reflection for staff at RTE.
The Operation Transformation host says that everyone at the station will be glad to see the back of the annus horribilis that was 2019.
With a commitment for an extra €10m from the Government, Kathryn says that they can finally go back to making worthwhile programmes.
“RTE has gone through a very difficult time and it feels now that there is a clarity.
“Now at last everyone knows what direction the organisation is going in.
“I think that everyone can now really focus on programming and content, not that they weren’t before, but with a little bit of the pressure off in terms of the financial commitment from the Government.
“I think it is a place that conversations about new shows and ideas can start again. It feels like they have turned a corner.”
Kathryn was in studio in RTE covering for Ray D’Arcy when the news broke about the death of both Marian Finucane and Larry Gogan.
She says morale among the staff in RTE is on the floor and can only really improve with time.
“Just look at what happened in RTE on Tuesday, burying Marian and then Larry Gogan dying”, she says.
“I was on air covering for Ray the day that we got the news about Marian and then again with Larry.
“And the staff were just coming to terms with the loss of Gay Byrne.
“That is three hugely influential broadcasters that have gone in such a short space of time.
“It is a big change and everyone is still coming to terms with those changes, as well as the financial crisis.
“So morale has to be at an all time low.
“I think and hope that 2020 will be a year of moving forward as well as reflection and morale can only go up from here.”
A director and operator of Pure Results health and fitness bootcamps, it should come as no surprise that Kathryn is again helming Operation Transformation, which is back on our screens every Tuesday night. The presenter and mum-of-one says she is looking forward to seeing how this year’s crop of leaders get on, although she is also bracing herself for the annual accusations of “fat shaming”.
“We will get accused of fat shaming”, she says.
“Look, the show has its fans and it has people who just don’t get it — whether it is fat shaming or taking advantage of people, whatever.
“I 100pc stand over the show and the integrity of the show and we have proven time and time again that the show works.
“It is not all about the numbers on the scale, it is about the inch loss.
“We wouldn’t have people in their shorts being filmed in order to see the inch loss if it wasn’t important to physically show the weight loss.
“But we do so much more like the contestant’s metabolic ages and hydration levels right up to BMI.
“We do every health benefit technique we can do, even monitoring their sleep. It is not a weight loss show, it is a health show and I will challenge anybody to say what we are doing is wrong, or unethical or freak pointing on a TV show.
“We make a TV show but it is very much a health show.”