There is an image of celebrities – styled, polished, only showing the Instagram-version of themselves and never letting their guard down, in case it plummets them from their pedestal. But Una Healy is honest and sincere in a way that is quite unique, expressing a vulnerability that many keep locked away.
No doubt it’s influenced by her rural roots. She may have enjoyed international success on stage with The Saturdays, living it up in London and LA. But any notions she might have had from those days are well gone now that she’s back home in Thurles.
“People ask me what it’s like being in the public eye, but in Thurles, everyone has known me since I was a child. They don’t see me as the one from the telly [she regularly hosts The Six O’Clock Show on Virgin Media] and they don’t think of The Saturdays, I’m just Una from Thurles that they went to school with.”
After years away, it’s a relief to be home, she says. “I moved back in the pandemic. I was a single parent in England and it was such a strange time, very overwhelming. I had to come home, no I wanted to.” And then her children Aoife Belle (14) and Tadhg (11) settled quickly, especially in school. “Aoife is now in the secondary school I attended and Tadhg loves the GAA. And for me, my heart was always here.”
Una and her ex-husband Ben Fodden split in 2018, and while the rugby player lives in the US, the children see him on holidays. She says that it’s her own parents that are her co-parents doing the day-to-day. “I couldn’t do it without them, they’re fantastic. They are there when I can’t be, although I’m only away when I’m working – and I have to work – but I’d say people think I’m away a lot more because that’s what they see on social media. They don’t see me in my tracksuit on the school run.”
Speaking about raising children mostly on her own, Una says, “They get along great. Tadhg, he has seen me as a single mother – he was quite young when we moved back to Ireland, and he has a real respect for women – for Granny and his sister, and me, he’s such a gentleman.” And Aoife’s passion for horses has seen her hard at work. “She’s goes to the local equestrian centre, she rides every Friday and helps out during the weekend. She wants to be a vet, and loves animals.”
Passion for fashion
While Una is fond of horses herself, her real passion at the races is the fashion, and she is this year’s celebrity judge for The K Club’s Most Stylish Racegoer competition at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival. “At home, I’m very casual – I’m a busy Mom so tracksuits and gym gear but I love getting dressed up for events and the races.
“Race day fashion is all about timeless elegance and wearing something that makes you feel confident. I love soft, feminine styling with beautiful tailoring, flowing fabrics and subtle statement pieces that feel effortless but still special. This year, we are giving people a steer for the races with a theme of reimagining 1950s glamour in a modern, individual way – so that could be with a classic silhouette, a soft, pastel palette or a standout hat or accessory. But you don’t have to follow the theme, wear whatever feels right for you.”
Even though Una’s outfit choices are frequently in the spotlight, she says, “I don’t put pressure on myself, because fashion and music, it’s all subjective. So you’re going to get comments like, ‘oh what’s was was she thinking?’ or ‘sack the stylist’. That one I found funny recently – because I was the stylist, but it’s water off a duck’s back,” she says, smiling.
One style she has definitely gotten right in recent years is her Una Healy shoe collection, an idea that originated nearly 10 years ago. “I’ve always loved shoes. I remember there was a shoe store in Thurles, and when I was really young, probably five, me and my sister snuck out of the house to try on the shoes – and I used always be clapping around in my mother’s heels.”
Race day fashion is all about timeless elegance and wearing something that makes you feel confident. I love soft, feminine styling with beautiful tailoring, flowing fabrics and subtle statement pieces that feel effortless but still special
The idea for the shoe collection came about after a chat with her uncle Declan Nerney. “Anyone that knows Declan knows he always has an idea on the go. His partner Elizabeth has a shoe store in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan and there was a big shoe company that had lines with the likes of Tommy Bowe, Kate Appleby and Amy Huberman at the time. Elizabeth had the contacts and it just took off from there and I’ve been doing two lines a year ever since – spring/summer and autumn/winter. This season we have over 100 styles, and I love that they are in Irish boutiques in towns across the country, as well as online. Across all the big fashion houses in the world, the smaller heel is very popular and that is definitely reflected in this range so while style is key, so is comfort.”
While Una may be a businessperson, TV personality and former radio presenter, her first love and career passion will always be music. “Music is the root. And then the foundations of being from Thurles and now being back home, that’s my anchor.
“I still love performing The Saturdays songs – I’m doing quite a few Pride festivals in the UK this year, and I love mixing them into the sets,” as we tease that she is evolving as a gay icon – the Irish Kylie Minogue. But it’s her own solo songs that she pours her heart into, having recently released her Beating Heart EP, a confident evolution in her sound which reflects moments of struggle, hope and healing. “I write music when I feel inspired to – I never force myself to sit down and throw something together, the songs come from my life, experience and just feelings that I know.”
While the EP starts upbeat and uplifting, some songs are quite deep. “When I was writing Devil And His Demons, I thought it was about another person – it turns out, it was a song to your inner child.
“Then last winter, I was feeling very down and that’s when I wrote Lonely Til I Die. It’s almost tongue and cheese because I’m single. Some nights, especially those dark cold nights, I felt lonely, not in life – I’ve great friends, a really close-knit family – but romantic loneliness. And I just felt, is this it?”
It takes courage to put those thoughts out there into the world but Una replies, “I feel it’s important to say how you feel, it’s quite a universal feeling. You may not feel it now but most people do at some stage.”
Putting herself first
Trying to meet someone is hard and the dating scene is no joke, says Una. “I would like to settle down with someone but I’m not going to settle.”
Instead, she is focused on working on herself. “I stopped drinking last December. I was getting too fond of the wine in the evening and then I had a bad hangover one morning – and look we all have a hangover every now and then – but on top of that, my health was fluctuating hormonally, I was having a few perimenopause symptoms along with my Hashimoto’s (autoimmune thyroid condition). So I decided to give up drink for a while, to see how I feel and get a baseline.
“I’ve been putting myself first, for the first time in my life, I think – working on me and building my self-esteem. Honestly, it’s been a real weight off my shoulders, I feel my confidence is back. I’m enjoying life again and my relationship with my children has improved because I love myself more.
“And while I don’t have a boyfriend or partner, I have everything else and it may happen when the time is right. But my peace and my calm is what I am protecting right now.”
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival 2026 at The Curragh takes place from Friday 26-28 June. The K Club’s Most Stylish Racegoer judging will take place on Saturday 27 June. Advance ticket booking is advised, with a range of promotional offers available at curragh.ie.
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