James Kavanagh has teased what viewers can expect from new Irish dating show Grá ar an Trá.
The Virgin Media Television show will see the popular Irish influencer and Síomha Ní Ruairc throw open the doors of their ‘Love Teach’ where under the watchful eye of Cannier Gráinne Seoige, 10 singletons will be put through their paces to learn Irish to find love.
Contestants will split their time between flirting and folio with the ultimate aim of being crowned the ‘couple with the most focal’, walking away with €10,000.
Picture Brian McEvoy
Speaking exclusively to Goss.ie at the Virgin Media Television new season launch, James described the show as “our Love Island”.
He said: “It’s kind of a grown up Gaeltacht, which is funny because I never went to the Gaeltacht but I always wanted to, so this was kind of my opportunity.”
“So it’s a grown up Gaeltacht, there’s 12 contestants, they’re paired up. The whole premise is one speaks English and one speaks Gaeilge and it’s up to the Gaeilgeoirs to teach the Béarla speakers as much Irish as they can within the filming that we did.”
“People are eliminated based on if they’re not learning as much Irish as possible. So it’s a dating show done through Irish in a Gaeltacht setting.”
Picture Brian McEvoy
When asked what it was like working with Síomha and Gráinne, James said: “It was great craic. I’d never met Gráinne before but she is so much craic.”
“I grew up watching her on the news and she kind of had this Anne Doyle regalness about her. But she’s a bit filthy, a bit gas, and a lot of fun. And Síomha’s great as well because she’s a fluent Irish speaker too so she was teaching me lots of words.
“It was almost like we were in a relationship on the show! She was brushing me up on what to say. So they were great craic.”
Although the first season hasn’t aired yet, James is confident the show will be renewed for a second season.
He told us: “I think we’ll get [another season] because I was doing voiceovers for it during the week and it looks amazing. It looks like something I would watch if I wasn’t part of it. It’s kind of our Love Island!”
“The contestants are amazing. It’s just really watchable. There’s drama, tears, a lot of kissing, a lot of rumbling between the sheets, so yeah it’s a really good show.”
Grá ar an Trá will air on Virgin Media Television later this year.
Check out our interview with James below:
