Louise McSharry is launching her own podcast, after being axed by RTÉ 2FM last year.
The broadcaster announced her shock departure from the station in October, after 11 years.
Sharing her new career move on social media today, Louise posted a short trailer for her new podcast series.
Hello! It’s finally time to share the news about my podcast, Catch Up with Louise McSharry! The first episode will go up on Friday, March 25, but there’s a trailer up now if you’d like to follow/subscribe. I hope you will! pic.twitter.com/iwOBGz85Mc
— Louise McSharry (@louisemcsharry) March 10, 2022
She wrote: “Hello! It’s finally time to share the news about my podcast, Catch Up with Louise McSharry!”
“The first episode will go up on Friday, March 25, but there’s a trailer up now if you’d like to follow/subscribe. I hope you will!”
In the trailer, she said: “Each Friday I’ll do my best to catch you up on the weeks’ culture from the lowest of brows to the relatively high.”
“With the help of experts and relevant guests, I’ll take you through the week’s events and I’ll be armed with recommendations to with books telly and anything else that’s impressed me.”
Earlier this year, Louise opened up about her departure from 2FM, and admitted she felt like “a piece of trash” when RTÉ bosses axed her show.
During an interview with the Irish Independent’s Weekend Magazine, the 40-year-old recalled the devastating moment she found out her show was being pulled.
Louise explained: “I think it was a Tuesday. I was out for a walk with my son, who was home sick, and my agent called me and said, ‘Look, it’s not good news. 2FM are not renewing your contract.’
“There was no argument to be had. No argument happened. I went home and started processing, and I asked, ‘What’s the story with announcing it?’ And she [her agent] said, ‘Oh, they want to follow your lead on that.’”
Louise was asked not to share the news until Thursday of the following week, but the mother-of-two couldn’t wait.
“I honestly felt like I had no choice because I felt like if I waited another week, it was going to be really hard for me personally,” she said.
“I’m going to feel like I’m lying to the people who have built this show with me. And also, every day that went by, there was more of a chance that it was going to get leaked and that I wouldn’t be able to get my message out clearly.”
“And so I came up with what I wanted to say, which is what I posted on Instagram just after it happened.”
According to Louise, her announcement didn’t go down well with bosses at 2FM, and she wasn’t allowed host her final shows.
Louise had planned to host her final two shows that Saturday and Sunday, but bosses decided against it – leaving her “gutted”.
When asked if she feels a sense of betrayal, she responded: “To a certain extent there is, yeah. But communication [from 2FM management] was never great, in my experience.”
“So I wasn’t entirely shocked, but it still felt like a really poor show and a really bad way to treat someone who you’ve worked with for a very long time. I’m 39 years old. I’m capable of going in and having an adult conversation.”
“All it would’ve taken was for them to bring me in for a meeting and say, ‘Look, Louise, we’re looking at the schedule. We’re making some changes and, unfortunately, your show just doesn’t fit at the moment.’
“And honestly, I would’ve been fine, but what happened instead was nothing, and that made me feel disposable — literally, like a piece of trash that had been used up and was being thrown away,” she said.
“I have never been anything but professional, so it just felt like another kick in the teeth. It was ridiculous.”
“I’m really proud of the show that we made, but I felt humiliated by the way that it all went,” Louise confessed.
At the time, Louise also revealed she was working on a new podcast, and said: “It’s going to be very much in line with what I was doing on the show.”
“Because I think what was clear to me about what we were doing on the show — and what I heard over and over and over again after it finished — was that we were talking about things that aren’t being talked about in other places.”
“And I think, in particular, there’s a demographic of women in their 20s and 30s whose interests are just not currently being served on radio.”
“Podcasts are new for me; they’re different from radio shows. I’ve spent the past 19 years in radio with all the decisions made by the same man. It’s a long time to have one boss.”
“And it’s exciting that now the decisions are going to be made by someone different, and it’s even more exciting that it’s me,” she added.
