Northern Ireland businesswoman Olivia Burns has revealed she secretly hosted Hollywood star Patrick Dempsey for the past two weeks while he is in Ireland to shoot the Disney film Disenchanted, and said he "absolutely loved it here".
The actor, who is probably best known for playing Doctor Derek 'McDreamy' Shepherd in Grey's Anatomy, stars alongside Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams in the sequel to the 2007 fairy-tale rom com Enchanted.
Burns, who created the luxury candle and home fragrance brand Olivia's Haven, has now spoken about how "surreal" it was going to work "and seeing McDreamy" every day.
She wrote on Instagram: "The secret is out! We have been hosting the fabulous Patrick Dempsey for the last 2 weeks as he prepares to star in his exciting new Disney film, Disenchanted.
"It has been very surreal going to work and seeing McDreamy everyday. We have enjoyed lots of daily chats with Patrick about the beautiful Northern Irish countryside and of course Olivia's Haven (his favourite scent is our smoky Irish Fireside)."
Dempsey, who has been sending fans into a frenzy while sharing snippets of his time here on social media, previously shared a photo of himself with Burns' donkey Neddy on his Instagram page.
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She added: "P.S. Patrick wants us to set up an Instagram page just for Neddy - what do we think?
"We are sad to see him go today but loved having him to stay and wish Patrick lots of luck with his new film, we can't wait to see it!"
Burns told Belfast Live that Dempsey observed his two-week quarantine at her North Coast property.
She explained how the Hollywood star ended up staying with her.
"So, our house is on the North Coast and we have it online for people to stay in and I think the Disney guys just found it and thought it was a good place for the guys to quarantine. I think they went for it because they liked the look of the house and also the grounds around it and also because it is quite private," she said.
"They just literally dropped him off and he was here on his own for two weeks. We have two houses on the property so if someone is here we can go and stay on the other house on the property. It's set on 30 acres of land."
She said the 55-year-old actor was "just like a normal guy".
"He was so nice and normal. Honestly, just like a normal guy. He was so nice, chatty and friendly. My business is also on the property so we had to say that my business would still be running if he was OK with that and he was really understanding," she shared.
"He enjoyed the buzz from that all happening. He was quarantining so a lot of the time he didn't leave the house initially and he was able to see us passing and waving through the window and then coming outside chatting - he enjoyed that aspect of it. I also have girls working for me so everyone was sworn to secrecy but luckily we could talk to each other about it."
Burns said once Dempsey had three negative Covid tests, he started "exploring a wee bit", tending to go out at dawn before people were around.
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She bumped into him out walking on one occasion and he told her how much he was enjoying his stay in Northern Ireland.
"And just by chance - because I walk there most nights - I was out walking with my boyfriend that night and we spotted Patrick and he was walking through saying, 'this place is incredible' - he was absolutely raving about it. He loves animals so he loved seeing the horses and sheep all around and he was like, 'the place is alive with all the noises of spring'. He just loved it," she said.
"He absolutely loved it here. He said it was so relaxing. He loved our property - he said it relaxed him and he loved the farmland. He's from Maine in the US so he was talking about how he was from a farming background and how he has two donkeys himself, which is why he loved our donkey. He just found it incredibly relaxing, he said."
Disenchanted is the follow-up to the original movie, which saw Adams play animated princess Giselle, who is transported to real-world New York. Once in the Big Apple, she meets and falls in love with cynical divorce lawyer Robert Phillip (Patrick Dempsey).
