Carrigaline woman heads to international pageant after TV dating show success

STUDENT Talia Murphy, aged 19, from Carrigaline, was recently crowned as the first ever winner of Virgin Media’s new dating show “Grá ar an Trá” and is now getting ready to compete in Miss Continental Europe.

The show which began last month, was a huge hit with viewers, with many labelling it as being better than Love Island.

Grá ar an Trá was no ordinary dating show. If you haven’t seen the show yet, focail up - there is a big twist.

In each couple there was a Gaeilgeor (fluent Irish speaker) and a Foghlaimeor (learner) and the aim of the game was to improve the Foghlaimeor level of Gaeilge. The couples were watched closely by Cinnire Grá’, or the ‘Captain of Love’, Gráinne Seoige, to see which couples got a “blas for Gaeilge and love too!”.

The show was hosted by influencer James Kavanagh and Síomha Ní Ruairc who are the Fear and Bean and Tí of the villa (villa being a generous term) respectively.

“I had a very low standard of Irish,” Talia admitted, “even though I was behind other people in the house, I never gave up”.

Talia, was coupled up with Galway man Zak Rather, a part-time bartender and NUIG finance student. The pair entered the Teach at the end of the first episode.

I had college exams the week it started but luckily they left Zack and I entered a bit late.

After five weeks of Gaeilge and Grá at the Oyster Bay Lodge in Waterford, the pair were announced as the “Couple with the most focail” and walked away with a grand prize to the value of €10,000.

Despite being the last couple to enter, Talia put their win down to their determination and competitiveness.

“I used to bring my copybook on dates and do my obair bhaile every night,” she said.

An experience of a lifetime, Talia thoroughly enjoyed the process from start to finish.

Just off the back of her win, Talia is now set to compete in the prestigious pageant ‘Miss Europe Continental’.

Similar to learning Irish, she is also quite new to the world of pageants - which she fell into accidentally.

I just saw people applying for Miss Cork and I just thought it would be really cool. So I literally just applied for that.

After enjoying that experience Talia decided to keep at it, and having competed in other competitions she was recently invited to take part in Miss Europe Continental which takes place in Naples, Italy, from November 15 to 18.

Miss Europe Continental is an international beauty contest which aims to enhance the feminine charm and the cultures of the different countries participating in the competition. The competition celebrates personal beauty, poise, charm, strong personality, tenaciousness and ambition.

The Miss Europe Continental competition attracts international coverage and is broadcast on Prime Video. Contestants are shown around Italy and will take part in interviews and catwalks.

Talia is currently looking for sponsorship which will help her cover costs.

Pageants have been criticised for their emphasis on the way one looks and not one’s personality and intelligence. The pageant world has also been described as a toxic environment for girls, however, Talia spoke highly in its defence and discussed how it boosted her confidence and self-esteem and competing has introduced her to lifelong friends.

“I feel like it’s a big confidence boost and it’s just fun because you get to meet so many new people. I was so awkward before, I feel like people are gonna judge you no matter what, so you should just not care. I just don’t care anymore. I feel like my confidence has grown a lot.”

Many people have the misconception that girls that compete in pageants but are stereotypical ‘dumb blondes’ and describe them as ‘barbies’ but Talia revealed that majority of the girls she’s competed alongside were highly intelligent including doctors and lawyers.

Pageants get a bad rep but I don’t think it should at all.

There is a common misconception that pageant girls are only judged on how they look but Talia explained how there are different stages to each competition - including interviews where competitors are able to discuss their hobbies, interests and what matters to them.

For Talia, her passion has always been the environment. Sustainability has always been an important issue. Five years ago, she turned vegetarian and also learned to sew.

At school, Talia loved engineering and is now studying Sustainability Energy Engineering in MTU at its Bishopstown Campus.

“I want to discuss women in STEM, there’s not a lot of us, there are only two women in my course, including me. I feel like women try to kind of stay away from it sometimes because it’s mostly male dominated.”

One of Talia’s other obsessions is fashion. She loves to thrift clothes and upcycle what clothes she has. It is estimated that the textile industry is responsible for 35% of the microplastics pollution in the ocean. By thrifting and upcycling clothes, Talia is eco-conscious but also is able to put her own spin on the clothes she wears.

She recently designed a dress she wore for her college ball and is currently in the early stages of creating her dress for the upcoming Miss Continental Europe.

“ I like to go thrift shopping and I also can sew. I sewed my recent dress that I wore for my engineering ball and I’m planning to make my dress for Miss Your Continental because I want to show people that you can sew and thrift, making fashion more sustainable and better for the environment. My Mom picked up a few dresses from the charity shop, so I can’t wait to get started and see what I come up with.”

Competing has opened the door into the world of modelling for Talia and she has worked with a range of brands. Being sustainable also filters into her modelling work and only collaborates with brands who have similar values to her. Some of these brands include Vegan Tan and Purple Mountain.

With social media and influencing becoming a career choice for many working in the modelling profession, she is loving her studies at the minute and hopes to finish her studies and pursue a career in sustainability.

Modelling is very fun and I enjoy it a lot but college is my main priority at the moment, but you never know what can happen.

Find her on instagram @talia_murphy