LAURA vs MAURA
Fox beat Higgins 10 years ago in a beauty contest – but they still became friends
DANCING With The Stars contestant Laura Fox has revealed she struck up a friendship with reality TV star Maura Higgins after the pair faced off in a beauty contest.
The Ireland’s Fittest Family presenter and former beauty queen beat the 2019 Love Island finalist and model in the contest a decade ago. And Laura revealed the pair have stayed in contact since.
‘Maura is sound out,’ Laura told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
‘That’s why we got on so well when we were doing the beauty contest – she’s the craic,’ she added.
Maura – who entertained her army of social media followers this week with a video of her twirling in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – had to contend with taking second place in the beauty pageant, but Laura said she is delighted to see the Longford woman’s profile skyrocket across the water.
But she insists she would not be interested in following in Maura’s footsteps by trying to pursue a career in Britain.
‘She is doing a brilliant job, but the UK was never on the horizon for me as I’m too much of a home bird.’
The Galway native has enjoyed a stellar rise in RTÉ, where she has a full time radio gig on 2FM, as well as co-hosting the latest season of Ireland’s Fittest Family.
Speaking ahead of her latest turn on the dance floor, Laura revealed that she has found a new friend in former RTÉ newsreader Eileen Dunne, after the pair got on so well backstage on the show.
‘I love Eileen,’ she said. ‘I love going for a coffee with her.
‘I know that I can come out and have a rant to her straight away and she’ll very much give me a good smile and say, “good one, well done, you’re great”. It’s mad, because I just have such respect for her career and everything she’s doing, but there’s so much more to her as a person.
‘She’s like a chameleon . Every week she comes out and looks different – she looked about 25 last week.’
However, Laura’s performance in last week’s Movie Week as Dorothy in the Wizard Of Oz didn’t quite reach the heights she hoped for, as she found herself in the bottom two and narrowly avoided an early exit from the show.
‘I don’t want to be back down there again’
But she said she is determined to raise her game tonight and hopes her sassy samba can help her to climb right back up the leaderboard and return her to Glitterball contention.
Recalling last Sunday’s show, Laura said: ‘I was standing there going, “God this could be it; I could be gone tonight and it’s over.”
‘Being where I was… last week was terrifying. It really did actually give me a kick properly.
‘Coming in on Monday morning to rehearsals, I said
[to myself]: “I don’t want to be back down there again”.’
But if she is, she is determined not to go quietly.
‘I want to make sure that I’m going out on an absolute high,’ she added.