I was never a GAA fan and I didn’t want to be a presenter
... but everything’s coming up rosy for the face of Sky’s GAA coverage, and she loves her trips home for the races
IN 1966 James Brown wrote his smash hit song It’s a Man’s World. The lyrics over time have been characterised as ‘biblically chauvinistic’ by commentators; speak of the gulf in values between the sexes. While the song doesn’t take into account the world of professional Premier League soccer it is also, undoubtedly a man’s world. Sky Sports, the body that paid £1bn for the coverage rights of the Premier League, has also been criticised as a home of lad culture. Men’s games dominate the line-up and until recently many of the Network’s presenters were men. One Irish woman bucking that culture is Sky Sports News and GAA presenter Rachel Wyse.
‘If you could turn the cameras around onto the crew or let the audience have a listen to my earpiece they would be surprised at how many women work behind the scenes’, she says. ‘I do a mid-morning slot with my co-presenter Rob and we do something that’s a bit different called Sky Sports Now and we have guests continuously for the two hours and it is not just reading rolling sports news. It is all about analysis and the talking points form the weekend’s games or the story of the day. My producer is a female, the head of camera is Rachel and there are a lot more girls in there than people think. I would say the split is 60/40 and I would think that Sky is very aware of promoting women in sport. It is something that is important to them and there is an issue that it is a male-dominated industry to be working in but as far as I am concerned they have only opened doors for me and I am grateful for that.’
The 31- yearold presenter was previously linked to Galway hurling hotshot Joe Canning but she has confessed that there’s nothing going on with her love life.
While s he’s not s hort of male admirers, the Dublin blonde said she simply has no time for love.
‘From June to September I travel over and back to London for the GAA. I have worked four years out of the last six on Christmas Day and most Bank Holidays. I have my closest of f riends living in London and it can be a really fun place. Your working hours can be tough because when you are on the early shift you are up at 3am and you just have to make it work. It is like the life of a professional footballer. Christmas Day is just a busy day in work building up to the fixtures the next day. You have to love what you do which I do and it never really feels like work. So that leaves no room for romance surely with that schedule there is no time for romance. I am very boring at the minute. Just work, work, work.’
The broadcaster shot to fame after landing a coveted spot on Sky Sports News in 2010. Six years on and London-based Rachel is happier than ever with her slot.
‘Who would have thought that six years later that I would still be in London’? she says. ‘Because when I went over first London was a really daunting place. I was such a homebird and missed everyone from home but I managed to survive. It is a big scary place and I was the first of the three siblings to make the move having been the total homebird.
‘I was the first of the three to move and then my brother moved two months later and we lived together and then my sister moved a month after that and my mum was terribly upset and my dad was delighted that we were all out paying our own bills. It can be a lonely old place if you don’t know too many people. Even going into Sky on the first day was daunting to say the least because when I was coming from working on City Channel which had a staff of ten or 12 people. I went to Sky and there were literally thousands of people. So it was a crazy year for me but thankfully I have settled in now and it is a home away from home for me.’ Remarkably Rachel’s current career path was more of an accidental journey than a lifelong dream. Her first passion remains showjumping although she now harbours a healthy appetite f or GAA and football.
‘The intention was never to be a presenter’, she says. ‘I started off with Barny and Pickles, two donkeys that my parents’ friends owned. I would do showing classes with them at the Horse Show and then I had ponies and horses and I competed.
‘I actually always just wanted to do something equestrian and when I was in college I had to do six months’ work experience and I had to pick something that would be flexible enough to allow me time to compete. I went into a friend of a friend’s television production company and I loved it, so when I finished college I went back there and it went from there. I did a bit of rugby and a motoring show that went on TV3 and eventually I managed to get an equestrian programme in Ireland which went on Sky and then two years later I went to Sky Sports News. But the plan was always to go and work in sports. Thankfully for me they have managed to open doors along the way and I have been working with the Irish rugby team, then the GAA which they asked me to present with Brian Kearney.’
Rachel is extremely happy that broadcasting of our national game went well – and she feels that any criticism of the move to her channel has been answered by great coverage. And even though she is not a diehard GAA girl she believes that their programme will only get better with time.
‘I was never a GAA fan’, she says. ‘I would finish school and I would be out the door and down to the horses. So my youth wasn’t spent going to GAA matches when I was younger.
Sky is very aware of promoting women. They opened doors for me
‘Going into it three years ago I was very much a presenter and my job was to get the panel to give their opinions on the games and the topics of the day. I am not an expert, but I enjoy the sport and I love doing it and it has been a wonderful two years and we are going into the third year of coverage.
‘Personally I love working on it and it was always going to provoke debate and conversation over giving it to Sky. That was expected and I understood that people were concerned at what Sky was going to do. Hopefully we have encouraged new people to watch it abroad. The first year I think English people were like, what is this crazy sport and people like J oey Barton t weeting about hurlers having hands of steel? Then l ast year they were a bit more familiar and this year again we want to grow. I can confidently say that Sky will want to go for it again in the next few years.’
Rachel will have to break out the frock and fascinator this Easter as she judges the Carton House Most Stylish Lady competition on Grand National day in Fairyhouse on March 28.
She explained that entrants are being asked to shun traditional Ladies’ Day gear in favour of quirkier outfits inspired by history to win the €8,000 top prize.
The organisers have decided to put on a 1916 Centenary-inspired Ladies’ Day in a bid to bring a real sense of occasion to the race meet.
As a result, ladies looking to shine on the day can seek inspiration from any of their style icons ranging back to the early 1900s.
‘This is a little bit different. Carton House have been involved with the Grand National for a number of years and this year they’re going to mark 1916 by having centenary glamour as theme for the Most Stylish Lady. Whether it’s vintage from the Twenties or Sixties- style prints, it can be anything inspired by the last 100 years in fashion.
‘It is lovely to come back to Ireland and I love the Irish National and mixing that with the fabulous people at Carton House for their most Stylish Lady competition. Carton has been working with the National for years and it is all about Centenary glamour and it is going to be really interesting. Embrace the last 100 years of style icons and what you feel comfortable with and there is €8,000 on offer in prize money and it is not to be sniffed at.
‘If I had one piece of advice for the ladies it would be to think outside of the box. Be adventurous and brave and just have fun with their outfits. That is the sort of style that I will be looking for on the day.’