Anna Geary announced during the summer that she and her husband Kevin Sexton were expecting their second child and she was filming Ireland’s Fittest Family while pregnant
Coach Anna Geary and her finalists
Anna Geary was happy to be able to showcase exercise during pregnancy during this season of Ireland’s Fittest Family. The TV presenter announced during the summer that she and her husband Kevin Sexton were expecting their second child.
The coach was pregnant while Ireland’s Fittest Family was being filmed, and was thankful that she could offer a fresh perspective to the fitness programme.
Now she is approaching her due date, she joked that the show has prepared her for childbirth.
“I’m glad I’m not running up mountains at this point!” the Cork native laughed to RSVP. “I was running up quite steep hills at five months pregnant, but I’m delighted that I was able to do it.
“This pregnancy has been healthy and it’s always a fresh perspective. With Ireland’s Fittest Family, often people forget that they’re actually doing a lot of work and a lot of training and a lot of hard, grueling exercise because there’s such enjoyment in it and there’s entertainment value and team work and all the things that go along with it. So to still be able to play a part as a coach and be very active and run alongside my family in spite of being pregnant, as someone who’s a big advocate of exercise I think it’s very important to see that.”
She added: “It was great to be able to do it. Now I’m in a position where instead of packing the gear bag for Ireland’s Fittest Family, I’m turning my attention to packing the hospital bag. I still will probably have the same nerves. I used to get very nervous, and still do, before all the Ireland’s Fittest Family challenges, because there’s nearly a feeling of helplessness when you’re on the start line. You’re there as much as possible, but you can’t really do anything about it. Giving birth is kind of the same thing, you’re not in control, you don’t know when it’s going to happen or how it’s going to happen. You just have to kind of adapt and go. If anything, Ireland’s Fittest Family has prepared me for childbirth in a weird way!”
It comes as the series saw a shake up this year, with Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane, Dublin GAA star Michael Darragh MacAuley, and Irish rugby legend Andrew Trimble joining as coaches alongside veteran stars Anna, Donncha O’Callghan and Davy Fitzgerald.
Donncha said the shake-up was well-needed to keep the show fresh.
“I really enjoyed it,” he said. “It just felt like a freshen up was great. It was something new and something different; we had new coaches, we went to new places.
“Maybe our sports are all different, but I think there’s language across all of it that crosses over. I certainly enjoyed it.”
Andrew added: “I’m doing this really fun thing, really different. Seeing parts of Ireland I’ve never seen, meeting different types of people and families. I’ve really, really enjoyed it, it’s been really wholesome and it’s a very positive experience for me.”
It comes as the coaches are gearing up for the finale tonight, with four remaining families battling it out to be named the winners
Newbie coaches Ellen Keane and Michael Darragh MacAuley have crashed out of the competition – leaving solo newbie Andrew Trimble to fight it out with Anna Geary, Donncha O’Callaghan and current champ Davy Fitzgerald.
The winning family will score that €15,000 prize and the title of Ireland’s Fittest Family 2025.
The final of Ireland’s Fittest Family airs tonight, 21st December at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.