DONAL SKEHAN’S FAMILY FEASTS
Donal Skehan’s career went on a tangent after he left the music industry for the kitchen but as he tells Niamh Walsh, he’s happy to have his hands full with his family
DONALSk eh an donned many hats before he landed on the perfect fit. He was a boyband member and sang with a pop quartet before becoming an international television star, and at just 34 has successfully navigated the fickle entertainment industry and the hot fires of the kitchen.
Growing up in the north Dublin suburb of Sutton, Donal’s first stab at fame was in 2006 when he was one part of boy band Streetwize. The duo performed at what is now the 3 Arena for screaming fans for the 2007 Child line concert which was hosted by the late Stephen Gately and Brian McFadden. When Streetwize went their separate ways Donal hooked up with Lee Hut ton, Morgan Deane and Michele McGrath to form pop group Industry.
The band racked up two Irish number one hits and even played support act to JLS.
Industry disbanded but, still determined to be a singer, Donal tried his luck at the Eurovision. But his goose was cooked when he was beaten to represent Ireland by Dustin the Turkey with his heavily ironic Irelande Douze Pointe.
Now, in what could be seen as some sort of revenge for being bested by a bird, Donal has built a massively successful career showcasing how to feast on turkey, among other things.
It’s been 10 years since his first foray into television food shows and Donal is back in RTÉ with a walk down memory lane.
‘This is my tenth year on television in Ireland, the grey hairs are coming in now. This show really feels like a celebration of that, there is a real sense of nostalgia to it,’ he says.
‘We feature a lot of archive footage of family moments. Every recipe has such heart to it, that’ s what’s been so lovely, we’ve been able to look back through the years and look at the recipes that people love a nd revisit them and come up with some new ones. It provides people with that bit of nostalgia and comfort, and in the current scenario I think everyone is looking to their kitchen for that.
‘Even the recipes alone, there’s stuff like next level shepherd’s pie and chocolate biscuit cake, the things we crave and go to for comfort, and I think that’s going to be the makings of it. We filmed in July, it was a limited set. For the two or three weeks we were filming we were in our little bubble. It’s strange times to be doing anything but it all worked out great.’
Donal has just come back to live in Ireland, having spent the last few years in sunny LA where his boyish good looks and culinary talents made the perfect recipe for American daytime television.
‘I had been going over and back for years, almost since the start of my career. I did The Today Show on NBC, which was a pretty big gig to get. I had been doing appearances on that quite frequently. We actually were filming a documentary for RTÉ about YouTubers and we went over to LA to film. I had started a YouTube channel at the time so I thought this is the place to be if you want to try and grow that aspect of the business. That is what kind of pushed us when we saw the opportunities over there, and then I got a job with Food Network and that pushed us to make the move.
‘We were kind of at that stage in life where if we didn’t do it then we never would and I’m very glad that we did. Particularly now, you have kids you realise almost how impossible it would be.’
The last few years have also seen Donal become a husband and dad of two. He married his Swedish sweetheart Sofie four years ago and the two are now parents to two-year-old Noah and baby Oliver, who turns one soon.
Becoming parents led the couple to yearn for home.
‘We were away four and a half years, it was a long ol’ stint. We loved it, we were really quite settled there. We went out there fairly free and breezy, we had just gotten married and we hadn’t a
clue what we were going to do.
‘We had work out there and there were nice opportunities. Then we had the kids out there and that really made it feel like home because the two boys arrived in an American hospital, we had two little California kids.
‘Because the boys were born out there it will always have a little bit of our heart. But it’s always nice to be home, especially in such uncertain times, to be back with the family and at the age they’re at — it really is important.’
Plans to return had been afoot, but the pandemic accelerated their return to Ireland.
‘It was Sofie who wanted to come back. She loves it here. We came back last summer and we had a great summer with my family and over to Sweden to Sofie’s family and that planted a seed. We saw that we were just missing out really and that was the pull. We were due to come back at the end of April but then the coronavirus hit.
‘It unfolded pretty quickly when corona virus started, we were advised to get out sooner than later because other f lights were being cancelled and nobody knew what was going on. It was madness at the time. We had f lights cancelled, the dog got stuck in London, there were 16 bags to get home.
‘One of the big reasons we came back was family; obviously we haven’t been able to see them much with the restrictions but it’s great to be back home.’
Donal’s loyal collie-mix Max has been a constant by his side so when Max got lost in London he was understandably frantic.
‘Max arrived into our lives nearly ten years ago, we adopted him from Dogs in Distress. He has been all over the world. We thought we were just going to foster but he came in and he never left, he took up a place in our hearts.
‘He’s been at our wedding, has been everywhere with us at all the different stage so four lives. Getting him over to LA was such an ordeal and getting him back was an even bigger ordeal.
‘It was at the time when flights were getting cancelled left, right and centre. Max made it to London before us and he was due to get a flight to Dublin but the flight had to pack dry ice into the hold, so obviously you can’t have dry ice with dogs. I think he missed two flights, and it was just traumatic. We didn’t even know where he was, the minute they take him you have no control there, no tracking, so you have to trust that he will be OK.’
Keeping their spirits up and positivity t hat Max would be found was t he couple’s good friend Arthur Gourounlian, who is married to Big Brother star Brain Dowling.
‘Arthur got us through the whole journey home. Brian and Arthur were our neighbours out in LA so we would have spent a lot of time with them out there.
‘I know Brian since I’m 19, we were in panto together. When he and Arthur moved near us it was great to have such support from them and to have someone that you knew from home. They were absolutely brilliant to us and looked after us so well, particularly when the kids arrived — they were always there at the drop of a hat. They are just the loveliest people.’
He partnered with Spar convenience stores and has just launched a website called donalskitchen.com which helps
‘It’s hard to get the dinner unless you have a plan’
families with meal planning, tutorials on kitchen skills and automated shopping lists to match menus. He is aware of how difficult it can be to organise stress free family meals.
‘As soon as four or five o’clock rolls around if there’s not the makings of dinner you are in real trouble. It’s so hard to get the dinner to the table unless you have a really strict plan. The website is all about making those plans. Shopping step-bystep to planning meals. It’s been a real game changer to us.’
But is he interested in opening his own eaterie?
‘Maybe something more relaxed, a bakery or a cafe,’ he says, ‘but at the moment it’s so uncertain’ Donal’s Family Food In Minutes, sponsored by Spar, is on RTÉ One, Wednesday at 8.30pm