Aoife Walsh is finally ready to tell her story.
The former Miss Ireland is our latest Spotlight On cover star and in this exclusive interview she opens up about life as a single mum, her heartbreaking split from her fiancé and living life in the public eye.
The Tipperary native’s life changed forever in 2021. Announcing her pregnancy that March, July of that year marked the birth of her beautiful baby girl Penelope Rose, and a new chapter for Aoife began.
Last November, the 33-year-old won praise from her Instagram followers after confirming she is raising Penny as a single mum.
“Navigating heartbreak, pregnancy and being alone, and having this presence online can be difficult.”
In her exclusive interview with Goss.ie, Aoife speaks out about why she decided to share such a personal part of her life online, and why she is so glad she did, and whether she’s ready to return to the dating scene…
Read the full interview below:
You recently won praise online for opening up about being a single mum. What was it like to get such a positive response to sharing a very personal part of your life?
“I came out there before Christmas and told my followers that I’m a single mom, which I have been for two years. I was nervous to put it out there, because it is quite a personal thing, but I was just so overwhelmed by the positive response. I received dozens and dozens of supportive messages from other mothers and single moms.
“Navigating heartbreak, pregnancy and being alone, and having this presence online can be difficult, but I got such a positive and lovely response from my community online which was amazing.”
“I didn’t say anything about my situation for so long, because at the time that everything happened I was expecting my first baby and I was alone so I had to focus on that. And then when I did come out and share it, it was definitely a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. The messages I received were just so nice.
“People really appreciate that I was being so real about my life, and showing that it’s not all rainbows. I think it’s really important to normalise that families come in all shapes and sizes, and the most important thing is that they’re filled with love. It’s totally ok to be real and vulnerable. Everyone’s life situation is different.
“And who says I don’t have it all? I think I do, I’m so terribly happy in my life. Having my daughter has completely changed me as a person for the better, and she just makes me so happy every day. All I think about is her. Becoming a parent really grounds you as a person, and it just makes you realise what’s important in life and what’s not. I’m just so content and happy.”
“I have learned to embrace my situation and to adapt”
“When things don’t work out the way you thought they would and you become a single parent, it’s definitely very difficult. It can be really sad and lonely. You can feel so alone, and I remember feeling so overwhelmed. When something like that happens, you get such a knock. You think the world is over. But it’s not, and everything is going to be ok. I look back now on the past two years, and I can’t believe how fast these two years have gone, and I never imagined I’d be so happy in my life with such a beautiful, clever daughter.
“I have learned to embrace my situation and to adapt. I’m really excited for what the future has in store for me, and my mindset has changed a lot. Of course, that doesn’t happen overnight and that’s a journey in itself.”
You seem to be very close to your family. Were they a big help during your pregnancy and the first few months of Penny’s life?
“Definitely. I’m incredibly lucky to have such a supportive family and friends, and I’ll be forever grateful to them.
“I’m so lucky that I have an amazing mum and dad, a beautiful daughter, my lovely sister and her family. So my life might look different to what I thought it would, but I’m really grateful that I’ve got to spend so much time with my parents over the past two years, and that they’ve had so much time with Penny.
“Penny has such an amazing relationship with her grandparents and there’s so much love and happiness in the house.”
What advice would you give to someone who has become a newly single parent?
”Time is a really good thing. Time helps a lot, and it heals a lot. At the start, you think things are absolutely awful and you do go through a grieving process because your future doesn’t look the way you thought it was going to look. You have to learn to accept that, and that takes time but you will get there and will realise that everything is going to be ok.”
After competing in Miss Ireland and Miss World yourself, how would you feel if your daughter wanted to enter the beauty pageant world in the future?
“I would absolutely encourage Penny to do whatever she wants in her life, no matter what it is. If she has an interest in something, I think it’s so important to encourage that and never hold them back. You have to let your children spread their wings and fly. So if she wants to get into a similar industry as her mom, all I can do is give her a few tips and tricks. Miss Ireland 2040 – you better watch out!”
You’ve opened up about being single at the moment. Do you feel ready to go back on the dating scene yet?
“At the moment, I’m just really focusing on Penny and myself. I’m definitely not shut off, but I think when something happens to you in life like it did with me, and you get a setback, it does take a while to rebuild. And that’s what I’m focusing on at the moment, just rebuilding my life. I’m focused on growing and progressing in my work, and of course having fun doing so. And Penny is getting so big, so I’m really trying to be present and enjoy this time where she’s so small because time goes so quickly.
“I’d also like to move out to have a bit of my own space, that is a goal for me down the line. Some space for Penny and myself, but also my wardrobe! So those are things that are on my priority list. I feel if someone was to fall into my lap maybe… But at the moment I’m just focusing on Penny, my work and myself.”
“Winning Miss Ireland completely changed my life.”
In 2013, Aoife beat dozens of hopefuls and won Miss Ireland. At the time, she was a newly qualified teacher and wanted to do something different. She never expected to win.
In a short few weeks, she was invited to the biggest showbiz events in the country, she was in national newspapers and magazines, and she took part in Miss World in Bali, Indonesia.
Ten years later, Aoife is still one of the most popular Miss Ireland winners to date.
Take us back to the beginning of your career, you were a qualified teacher before you entered Miss Ireland, what made you go for Miss Ireland?
“Miss Ireland was something that I had followed and I just had a genuine interest in it. I entered as a bucket list kind’ve thing really. I didn’t ever really believe that I was going to win it. I just wanted to enter it and get that experience.
“I had originally entered Miss Tipperary, and I won that which I was so shocked and surprised about. I thoroughly enjoyed the lead-up to the competition and everything that went with it so I was like, ‘Look I’m probably not going to win Miss Ireland but I’ll try my best.’ And then low and behold, I ended up winning it!
Picture: Brian McEvoy
“I can honestly say that winning Miss Ireland completely changed my life. From that day, my life just went in a different direction. I’m now a full-time influencer and I don’t think I would have ever been in this position if I hadn’t won Miss Ireland. That was 10 years ago this summer, which is actually mad to think about. But since then, I’ve had so many different experiences that I would’ve never even dreamed about.
“After Miss Ireland, I went on to do full-time modelling for a number of years and I just loved that. I was working with loads of different clients, and I loved being on shoots and walking on catwalks. I wouldn’t have been the tallest girl in Miss Ireland, so I never thought that I would be able to model. I never thought I would be good enough to do catwalks or to open shows. And then I ended up walking in New York Fashion Week, which I something I never even dreamt I’d be able to do.
“I look back on all the different experiences I’ve had and I’m just really grateful. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of it. The last 10 years have been very good to me.”
There can be a lot of rejection and criticism in the world of beauty pageants and modelings, so you need to be quite confident to make it in those industries. Have you always been a confident person, or is that something you’ve had to work on?
“I think I was always a naturally confident person. I’ve always been very comfortable in my own skin, and I’ve always known who I am. I think that comes from my parents and my upbringing. I’ve always stayed quite grounded and down to earth, and that’s important because you don’t want to lose yourself just because you win something.
“Confidence is just a natural trait I have in myself so I’m lucky. There has been rejection, absolutely, and sometimes you’re just not the right fit for a brand or a shoot. You just have to accept that, not take it personally, and keep going. I always say to myself, ‘Just keep swimming.’ That’s what I do: Mind my own business, keep in my lane, and just keep swimming. And thankfully, it’s working so far.
When you won Miss Ireland, there was a lot of media attention. How did you handle that?
“I just took it as it came and learned to adjust. Over the years, the media attention has changed a lot and I think now it’s a lot more scrutinised. But I think because I’ve been in this industry for a long time, I just learn how to cope and deal with it. I have my family and my friends, and they know who I am. I’m very happy and settled in my own shoes, so I try not to give the scrutiny too much attention.”
Picture: Robbie Reynolds
Aoife is a well-known model, working with the likes of Newbridge Silverware and previously walking in New York Fashion Week.
She has also grown a social media following of over 49k on Instagram, where she has worked with the likes of Primark, Milupa Ireland, Aveeno and more.
The Tipperary native is known for her fashion content, with a particular focus on high-end fashion.
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Your Instagram has blown up in recent years, and you are best known for your fashion, beauty and lifestyle content. What made you decide to start creating content and sharing your life online?
“I had such a love for photography and fashion, so it became a natural thing to share my own take on fashion online. I was a model for so long so I always had other people dressing me and putting their looks on me, and I wanted to be able to express my own sense of style and fashion. Having an Instagram page gave me an outlet to share that and to express myself. So that’s how it started at the very beginning.
Then social media started blowing up, and I was able to make a career and a job out of it. That came as a surprise, but a very happy one.”
What would you say are the best and worst parts of a career in social media?
“It’s great to be able to be my own boss, it’s very empowering. I love being able to share stuff that I like, and have people respond to it. The best part of it is that I get to work with brands that I love, and create things that I love. I absolutely love my job, and I know a lot of people can’t say that. So I feel very privileged that I can say that I do love my job. I’m doing what I’m actually interested in, it’s what I enjoy. Getting to do what you love everyday is a huge bonus.
“In terms of cons… It is very difficult to switch off. You always feel like you need to be sharing something, and that can create a bit of burnout and exhaustion. So I definitely try to take little social media breaks and detoxes. I might go a full weekend without posting, or just put my phone down for a while. I think that’s important to do, because you can get a bit lost in it all. Especially now that I’m a mom, I’m so conscious about being present with my daughter and not being on the phone.”
“A lot of people have 9-5 jobs and then have their weekends to switch off, but in this job it doesn’t work like that. So I do take some time away from my phone sometimes, especially when I’m hanging out with my daughter, just to make sure I’m being present and not sharing absolutely everything.”
Do you feel pressure to share every aspect of your life with your followers?
“Yeah sometimes, but I try to strike a balance between the private life and the work life. I think that’s important.
“I don’t share my daughter’s face on my social media for example. She’s her own little person, and I have to respect that. If she wants to be on it in future, that has to be her decision. It’s important to create these boundaries with work and to protect my daughter.
”I just share what I feel comfortable with, and what feels right. I go with my gut, and hopefully that will lead me in the right direction.
“There have been times that I haven’t spoken about certain things that happened in my life because I haven’t felt comfortable with it or ready to do so, and my followers respect that. They only send me positive, supportive messages and I’m always so grateful for that.”
What have been your career highlights to date?
“I’ve had so many amazing experiences and worked with some amazing brands. I think one of my career highlights was a couple of years ago when I was flown over to London for a TV advert for a brand called Mixa, which is owned by the L’Oreal Group. That was pretty exciting, and that ran on the TV for a couple of weeks. The funniest part about the ad was that I was playing a mom and I had a red-haired little girl as my co-star, and then fast-forward a few years later and I actually have my own red-haired little girl to co-star in my actual life. So that was really nice and special.”
Many big Irish influencers have become entrepreneurs in recent years. Would you ever start your own brand?
“Definitely, that’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot. I have a Master’s in Business, so I do come from a business background. So to be able to glue together my love of fashion and beauty with my academic career, that would be a very natural next step for me.
“I just need to think about what I love enough to be able to put my own stamp on it and my own name on it. So hopefully in the next couple of years… Watch this space, world domination and all that!”
As our interview comes to an end, it’s clear that Aoife is in a happy, content place in her life. She is calm, focused and ready to take on the world.
She clearly has strong plans for her career and even stronger plans for her daughter, so as we say goodbye, I ask her, what will the next few years hold for the passionate, hard-working model and mother.
What’s next for you?
“Professionally, I want to continue to branch out into doing more beauty, and to become a little more adventurous with my content. I want to keep creating what I love, and to grow and reach more people. I’d love to reach more single moms as well, I think that’s important. It’s nice to be able to have a little section of the internet where a single mom can go to and see someone with a platform who lives a life a little bit more like hers. I hope to be able to connect more on that level, so we’ll see!”
“My goals personally, are definitely to get my own space with my daughter outside of my parents place. So hopefully that will happen this year.
“And then I just want to be able to create loads of lovely memories with my family. I’m really looking forward to summer, and taking Penny on her first summer holiday. There’s still so many firsts to do, and I can’t wait to experience them.”
