Former Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh has opened up about her love life, saying it's "great" that she can say she's in a relationship now.
The 2014 winner has previously spoken about looking for love, saying she "genuinely" doesn't get asked out on dates as people presume that she's too busy.
However, since handing back her sash, Walsh has embarked on a relationship with TV producer Shauna Keogh.
"The love life is great", she said on Breakfast Republic on 2fm. "Gone are the days when lovely folks would say 'Are you still single?!' I can actually say I'm in a relationship now.
“Her name is Shauna Keogh. She actually has a big documentary coming out soon on RTÉ called The Only Gay In The Village, so that’ll be cool, keep an eye out for that. But, yeah we’re doing well."
The Philadephia Rose opened up about how their romance came about, saying: "We met actually on one of the last days of the festival last year through a mutual friend. I was doing The Toy Show for TV3 and she was working in TV3 at the time and we started hanging out over coffees and it blossomed from there. She hasn't gotten sick of me yet so that's great!"
Walsh, who has set up a new events management company called Juniper and Ruby which specialises in weddings, was also asked if she would like to plan her own big day.
She said: "One day I would hope to plan [my wedding], in the very far, far future!"
Walsh also spoke about some of the negative attention the Rose of Tralee garners, saying: "It's great fun, you get a lot of naysayers saying it's anti-female, [but] it's a remarkable experience and it's very cool to celebrate all things Irish.
"I don’t think it's objectifying women, we're far cry away from the pageants you see in the States or worldwide."
