2FM reporter Lottie Ryan was today announced as an upcoming contestant on RTE’s Dancing With The Stars.
While making the announcement on Ryan Tubridy’s RTE Radio One show this morning, Lottie took the time to share her praise for one member of this year’s Late Late Toy Show cast.
8-year-old Sophia Maher told Ryan about the bullying she faces daily because of her cropped hair cut while starring on the show.
Praising the youngster, Lottie said: “The courage that she showed was inspiring, I just think she was incredible.”
Lottie explained that her late father Gerry Ryan’s fame made her a target as a teen, and she was forced to move schools following the abuse.
“As an adult I only recently spoke about being bullied in secondary school. I’m a grown woman and I found it really difficult to do.”
“It was really awful. It was in first year of secondary school, I was eating my lunch in the toilets. It was a bad time.”
“I think it shaped the person I am and I think it had a long term effect on me.”
“This had never been an issue for me before,” she said of her dad’s fame as a broadcaster.
“Suddenly it was a thing and life was quite difficult for a while.”
Lottie is set to star on the upcoming series of Dancing With the Stars, and revealed that she had an extreme reaction to the news that she had been selected for the show.
