Elle Gordon meets Bláthnaid Treacy Moon to talk about her new breakfast radio show, how nesting is a very real part of life and wondering who her daughter will be.
Bláthnaid Treacy Moon arrives to her photoshoot in Dublin's Iveagh Garden Hotel looking camera-ready, in a sequinned midi dress, paired with gym socks and New Balance trainers: the epitome of cool pregnancy style.
With only 10 weeks to go before her due date, the radio and TV presenter already wears many hats. She hosts two radio shows (2fm Breakfast with Bláthnaid Treacy and The National Chart Show, presenting the Lottery draws and reporting for the Today show).
Now, she is about to step into a different kind of role, as a mother for the first time. She and husband, the jazz musician Charlie Moon, are expecting a baby girl. First things first, though, how is she keeping?
"I am really good. I have got 10 weeks to go so it is starting to feel more real. Initially, when the bump starts to appear, you are like, 'This is so cool’ but then it just starts to get bigger and bigger! So things like tying my shoes are starting to get a little more difficult. I am definitely slowing down but in a really nice way. I can’t walk as fast but that’s OK. I am just trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It is such a transitional time in my life, but I just feel so appreciative of it. I am really happy."
Followers of Bláthnaid’s social media will have seen the work she and husband Charlie put into building their home life over the last few years, most notably, buying the house they had been renting in Dublin’s very trendy Stoneybatter and embarking on a renovation.
"Right now, Mabel our dog is still our number one. She is half sausage/half dachshund and we got her from the DSPCA. Then we bought our house a couple of years ago. We spent six months doing it up and we’re back living in the house a year now. We had been living in the house for a long time, so we always kind of knew exactly what we wanted to do. We got the builders ready and started the work. It was only supposed to take three months and it took six, but it’s perfect and we absolutely love it."
Bláthnaid has a pretty distinctive sense of style. Did that translate to her home décor? "I think so. Our home has a bohemian kind of style: lots of terracotta, lots of greens, lots of neutral colours. My bathroom is pink, which I love although you have to be careful with your use of space in Stoneybatter because the houses are tiny, but it is great. I never want to leave the house."
Is a home ever finished? "It takes a long time. I feel so lucky to be in this position, because that the cost of living crisis is outrageous at the moment and there are so many people who can’t buy homes, people who are also starting their families, so I feel very lucky. It shouldn’t be a case that I feel very lucky. Everyone should be able to get themselves in a comfortable situation. Don’t get me wrong, we worked our asses off. I love every part of our home but it is blood, sweat and tears that went into it."
Then you decided the time was right to start a family? "Charlie and I just decided it was the right time to start trying for a baby. I got pregnant and here we are. We have been together such a long time and it was just right time for us. We have done all the sessioning and out-all-night partying. I am 34 now and it just felt like I was ready to settle down a bit more and here we are having our baby girl at the end of June."
Who was the first to hear the news? "I told my Mum quite early on; I couldn’t not tell her. It is my first pregnancy so I have no idea what is to come. Everything feels quite different and you are going through all these changes mentally, emotionally and physically so I had to tell my Mum. We told her and she just burst out crying. She was so happy and then we held off on telling the rest of the family until I was three months and that was Christmas time.
"This is the 12th grandchild though. I have six siblings, but I am the baby having the baby so my Mum is so excited. It was so sweet; everyone was so certain it was going to be a girl and it is. I grew up with one sister and loads of brothers so in my head, I was like, ‘I am gonna have a boy.’ But Charlie knew… he was like ‘No, it is going to be a girl.’"
Bláthnaid says she is now in full-on nesting mode. "Oh nesting is a real thing. I am just sitting in the house going, ‘Charlie, we need to clean up.’ I am constantly cleaning and tidying and going up to IKEA loads, picking up little bits. I just need to organise the buggy and the cot and those things. I keep picking up all these little outfits too. The other day I laid everything out and I suddenly realised, ‘I have nothing practical.’ I rang my Mum and said, ‘What is the most practical thing?’ And she said, ‘Buy loads of white Babygros' so that is what I did."
Is she winding down yet or has she any big plans? "I am having my baby shower with my friend Holly. She is my best friend since we were four and she lives in London. She is a very successful casting director over there. She got married in August in France and after the wedding, we said, ‘Right, let’s start planning our families.’ She got pregnant at the exact same time so it is just amazing how it worked out. We are constantly texting each other which is lovely and I can’t wait to see her."
Professionally, she has recently taken on a new weekend breakfast show. "Starting the new radio show has been incredible. I love it. I have been working in 2FM since 2015 and hosting the official chart show every Friday night and I still do that. When I got the call to say they wanted me to do Weekend Breakfast, they thought my energy would be right for it. It is going so well. We are only a few weeks in and I love our listeners."
Is she savouring the final few weeks of just her and Charlie? "It is almost as though we know her but we haven’t met her! Charlie is thrilled. We have a name in mind and everything. I have had a few moments of like ‘Oh my God, this is actually happening’ but Charlie doesn’t do stress, he is just like ‘Nah, this is going to be great.’ I am so excited. I have all these questions: ‘Will she be sporty? Will she be musical? Will she be into fashion?" I don’t know, but we will get to know soon enough.
"I want to be in the moment. I think if you think too far ahead, you can miss out on what is right in front of you. The thing about it is, it’s really nice to focus my energy on a different part of my life. For what seems like forever, it feels like I have been ‘career’ ‘career’ ‘career’ so this feels like it is just something solely for me and Charlie, our little family. I can’t wait to bring home our gorgeous, hopefully healthy, little girl and have a lovely summer of nesting."
