\nThe former Miss Universe opens up about wedding \u2018decision fatigue\u2019 and her struggles with eating disorders and alopecia\n<\/p>\n
Trump, though, somewhat typically, made a slightly backhanded remark. \u201cHe was like, you don\u2019t look Irish. And I was offended because Irish women are beautiful\u201d, Purcell recalls. The attention got her noticed by the worldwide TV audience, and the other contestants. \u201cIt was the moment everyone in the competition turned against me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Purcell nodded and smiled through Trump\u2019s remarks but secretly she had a mission: to get to the bottom of Trump\u2019s vertiginous hairdo. \u201cThe thing I remember is people asking me, is it a toupee or not? And so while he was saying \u2018great golf courses in Ireland\u2019 I was having a look.\u201d Her verdict? \u201cNot a toupee, a really good comb-over.\u201d<\/p>\n
A decade-and-a-half later, Trump is American history\u2019s most controversial president, and the Miss Universe competition is in trouble. Warrants have been issued for the arrests of the current owners of the competition with Ra\u00fal Rocha Cant\u00fa, one of the co-owners, under investigation for drug, gun and fuel trafficking.<\/p>\n
This followed drama earlier this month when F\u00e1tima Bosch, who would be the eventual winner, was described as \u201cdumb\u201d by the pageant\u2019s director, who subsequently made a tearful apology.<\/p>\n
Purcell says the competition may be \u201closing touch\u201d, but she doesn\u2019t think even the current scandals will spell its demise. Even now, she can holiday in Thailand, the Philippines or Latin America and \u201csomeone will come up and say, \u2018oh my God, Miss Ireland 2010\u2019. It still has such a cult following and I don\u2019t think we in Ireland see that\u201d.<\/p>\n
If the competition that made her famous is under fire, Purcell has gone from strength to strength in the years since she competed. She co-presents 2FM Breakfast and in December will co-host a show at the National Concert Hall, in which the music from the programme will be played by the RT\u00c9 Concert Orchestra.<\/p>\n
\u201cGarron Noone will perform Fairytale of New York, and he has such a fantastic voice. There will also be segments where we interact with the audience and get people up onstage. It\u2019s giving Toy Show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of my bald patches have been on the back of my head, so I can always get hair extensions<\/p>\n
Purcell is also building up to her wedding to Zach Desmond, which will take place in Galway. It will be a relatively small one, with about 60 guests, and she describes it as \u201cmore of a party\u201d.<\/p>\n
The hardest part of the preparation, she says, has been \u201cdecision fatigue\u201d about which makeup artist to use, and which dress and shoes to wear.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the worry of her alopecia flaring up in the run-up to the day. \u201cAlong with everything else, my hair sometimes decides to fall out randomly, and there is nothing I can do about it because it\u2019s an autoimmune condition.<\/p>\n
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Roz Purcell. Photo: Sean Cahill<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Sunday, November 30 <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to stay positive and remind myself that if I do get a bald patch most of my bald patches have been on the back of my head, and I can always get hair extensions. The bald patches can be quite big, I had one before and I could cover it until the wind blew… I\u2019ll just have to roll with it and accept that it is out of my control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Purcell also opened up about her own battles with an eating disorder while she was in the modelling industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went through bulimia and orthorexia\u2026 I just normalised my behaviour and I was in an industry that normalised it. Modelling has become much more diverse but back then it was very one-dimensional. Hearing people speak about mental illness, whether it was an eating disorder or OCD, made me think I have something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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2FM presenters Emma Power and Roz Purcell. Photo: Marc O\u2019Sullivan<\/p>\n
Eating disorders are sometimes treated using a model similar to addiction recovery, but whereas a drug addict or alcoholic can give up those substances, someone with an eating disorder must forge a new relationship with food. Was this difficult for her?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard, it still is hard\u201d, she says. \u201cI go through periods where I\u2019m fine and then I go through periods when life might be more stressful and then I need to try to manage it and understand that I can\u2019t go back there because my life was so different when I had an eating disorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cRelationships wouldn\u2019t work and I was just a really sad person. My relationship to food is my relationship to everything else. It was like I was living with someone else. There was a voice in my head and it constantly berated me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt constantly told me I was too big. It constantly told me that I couldn\u2019t enjoy something or if I did I had to be punished. I used to scratch myself really badly just to not hear that voice any more. I was lucky I managed to have a career during that time, but behind closed doors I was falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remember one photocall when I had a little pot belly from binging and someone asked if I was pregnant<\/p>\n
Her weight fluctuated as she binged and purged and public scrutiny made everything more difficult. \u201cI remember one photocall when I had a little pot belly from binging and someone asked if I was pregnant.\u201d Eating disorders do, she says \u201ccome under a type of mental illness and I think it is important that people come out and tell their experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the dark side of human nature to try to look for signs of imperfection in the most beautiful people, but Purcell comes across warmer and more genuine than the vast majority of celebrities.<\/p>\n
She\u2019ll spend this Christmas in Mexico with Zach, where they\u2019ll attend a Bad Bunny concert and she will shield herself from the sun, which she says is the cornerstone of her skincare. \u201cI\u2019ve never had Botox, I\u2019m slightly afraid that if I start doing stuff to my face, I\u2019ll look like the cat lady. I have bad dermatitis, but I just stay out of the sun always.\u201d<\/p>\n
And genes surely play a part. \u201cWhen people see my Mam they\u2019re like, \u2018oh my God, her skin\u2019, so maybe I get it from her.\u201d<\/p>\n