Ireland AM's Muireann O'Connell opens up about cruel 'fat' comment from stranger at funeral

Muireann O'Connell of Ireland AM has been candid about her path to body positivity, opening up about the harsh comments she's endured regarding her appearance throughout the years.

She's given an honest account of how she's grappled with her body image, sharing anecdotes from her adolescence right through to her life under the public eye.

The presenter touched on the challenges of living in the limelight and how it's influenced the way she sees herself. Speaking to The Irish Times, she said: "If bodies came with a Facebook relationship status, mine would be 'it's complicated'."

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She recalled an encounter at a funeral where someone pointed out: "You look so fat on the telly and you're not in real life!" to which she courteously replied, "Thank you," reports RSVP Live.

O'Connell revealed: "Some days it feels like the camera was designed by a man to make women look a completely different size on the TV. But I'm not giving out, people have every right to talk to me about it."

Addressing online negativity, she said: "When someone starts leaving nasty comments about how I look, it can get upsetting. I wish people would do it behind people's backs the old-fashioned way."

She also reflected on the societal pressures she faced growing up to meet certain beauty standards.

Revealing a troubling trend among her contemporaries, she confessed: "When I was growing up, girls would see a picture of a famous model or actor on the cover of a magazine and go to the toilets to puke. We all knew it was happening. I did it a couple of times myself, if I'm totally honest. It was normal to us for a while. We started to realise that while it was a fad for most of us, for others it had become a debilitating illness."

Her relationship with her body took a turn as she transitioned into college life, which led to an increase in weight.

She admitted: "I had a fairly good relationship with my body when I was in school, and played sport. In college, I discovered beer, all-nighters, ready-made quiche and the sport went out the window. Over the next few years, I put on weight, obliviously, until I saw a picture of myself in Australia. I didn't recognise myself. I was a few stone heavier than I am now. I hadn't realised, as I had forced my body into clothes that didn't fit."

This eye-opening moment sparked a transformation, though she emphasises that her journey is unique and not a guideline for others.

"This is a highly sensitive topic and I don't want to reinforce norms around what people should look like, but I wasn't happy, so I did lose some weight," she said.

Despite her success in adopting a healthier lifestyle, she still battles with societal expectations and the tendency to compare herself to others:

"I have spent my life comparing myself to others," she said. "I know I have a healthy body. I know I have a body that fits into clothes in almost every shop. A lot of people don't have that. I also know what it's like to have people comment on your body."

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