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Carlow Rose praised for candid Late Late Show interview

Updated / Saturday, 8 Sep 2018 19:30
Carlow Rose recounts her tough upbringing on The Late Late Show
Carlow Rose recounts her tough upbringing on The Late Late Show

Viewers have commended the Carlow Rose Shauna Ray Lacey after her appearance on The Late Late Show on Friday where she talked about her parents' struggle with heroin addiction.

Lacey was joined by her mother Angela Ray on the Late Late as she recounted her difficult childhood and the impact it had on her life.

"Growing up for me, I wasn't very aware of it at the time, but when I was about 10, 11 and 12 I saw a difference in the home," she recalled to host Ryan Tubridy.

Shauna Ray Lacey opens up about difficult childhood on Late Late Show

"My mam was very sad all the time, coming home from school it was very dark, there was no dinner on the table, she would be asleep in bed.

"At the age of 15 I made a decision that I didn't want to live there anymore, I felt like heroin took over my mam."

Although she said her parents were "very discreet" in their drug taking, she was "very much aware" of what was happening.

Shauna said that she took to studying to take her mind off what was going on.

"I was very ashamed going to school, I didn't want people to know who I was and who my parents were. It was difficult", she remembered, saying at the time she wished she had "parents who have dinner on the table, who collect you from school, who go to the sports games".

Shauna's mother Angela said she was "running away from myself" when she battled drug addiction

Shauna's mother Angela also opened up about this difficult time in her life as she battled with drug addiction, telling Ryan: "I think I was running away from myself.

"When you have kids there's not a day goes by that you don't think of them, and the guilt alone of not being able to stand up and be there for them, for me that was extremely hard."

When Shauna was 21 she told her mother she was pregnant. Two months later Angela said she had a moment where she wanted to change her life around.

"Her father had passed away and at 41 I knew if I was going to keep doing what I was doing, I was going to die," Shauna said.

"My head went through a 360", she explained, saying she knew straight away she was going to need treatment in order to "rebuild my life".

Carlow Rose Shauna Ray Lacey and her mother Angela Ray

Shauna said she hoped that Angela welcoming a grandchild would turn her life around.

"After my dad passed away I tried to build a relationship with her and I wanted her to be a part of my life", she said. "But I thought maybe this [having a grandchild] would be the thing to change her, maybe this could save her."

When Angela came to talk to her two months later to say she wanted to start treatment for her addiction, Shauna says she remembers thinking "this is different".

Carlow Rose Shauna Ray Lacey

Describing Shauna as a "beacon", Ryan asked her: "How did such goodness come from such darkness?

"Even though I had parents who were addicts I still had very good-hearted parents and my daddy he drilled something into me, he said to me 'you are a very, very special person and you have a heart of gold and when you walk into a room you better light it up'".

Viewers took to Twitter to commend Shauna, saying it was a "very powerful interview" and she was "the most amazing inspirational young woman".

The Late Late Show airs on Friday nights, 9.35pm on RTÉ One.

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