The working and home lives of Lynseyann Mulvey and Karl Bowe have merged: they both have roles in Fair City, and were married last year. They talk to Julie Lordan about how they make it all work, how they met and why romance reigns.
Newlyweds Lynseyann Mulvey and Karl Bowe are obviously enjoying their first year of married life. When we meet, they readily admit to being a pair of soppy romantics, describing their wedding in Italy last September as "the perfect day." They are definitely planning to mark St Valentine's Day and later this year, they are looking forward to their postponed honeymoon.
As Kira and Andy in Fair City, however, their relationship is quite different. For one thing, the two characters have hardly interacted thus far, and their love (or lust!) interests lie elsewhere.
For Lynseyann’s character Kira Cassidy, things are kicking off as she is beginning to have feelings for Victor Mullen and while it isn’t yet clear where that storyline will go, her partner Mondo O’Connell would need to pay more attention to her.
Lynseyann does think that Kira and Victor’s dalliance would throw the cat amongst the pigeons. "I definitely think that she is starting to develop something for Victor because Mondo is just too caught up with work. So she's looked elsewhere now for a bit of attention," laughs Lynseyann. "I think Mondo could probably see himself and Kira being in it for the long haul, but right now they are going through a rough patch and Kira thinks Mondo is not that interested in her any more. I think they have the foundations to go all the way but we’ll have to see," she says.
Karl is relatively new to the soap, and his character Andy’s storyline is still developing. It certainly looks like Carol Foley might have taken a fancy to him. As the charming, flirty barman in The Station, his character is open to all kinds of possibilities.
Karl is may be a bit of a a Carrigstown newbie, but his face is familiar as he is in the ad for a broadband service, explaining to a little girl what a 'gigglybit’ is. "I filmed that in September of ’22 and then I didn't see it much but now it's just everywhere," says Karl.
Being a former Mr Ireland, a title he held for two years, and a model, meant that Karl is in demand, but the modest actor has never taken success for granted and has worked hard to become known in the business. "For sure, I'd get showreels together, photos; whatever the case may be and just kept at it, doing everything and anything I could," he says. "Then Fair City came about when I was asked to come in for an audition for this new character, Andy. And I was fortunate that I got the call."
Lynseyann and Karl haven’t crossed paths much in the show, although there have been scenes together when Kira calls to the pub, but they love working together. They both agree that it helps if a couple shares the same career. "We understand each other’s jobs so well. The days can be long and we fully get that, and can support each other," says Lynseyann.
As a result of being in the public eye, Lynseyann and Karl are getting used to being recognised when out and about and don’t have a problem with that, especially as people are usually friendly and nice and just glad to see someone they recognise from the telly.
It wasn’t always on the cards that either of them would go into the arts, but they both studied drama and performing arts in college so the interest was there from early on. "I have a big family, one of five girls from Finglas," says Lynseyann, "and I’m the only one who went into the arts." Karl is one of two children, from Crumlin, and the only one in showbusiness. "My sister is the total opposite. She would shy away when she sees a camera, and is very private," he says.
A thoroughly modern couple, Karl and Lynseyann met through Instagram. "I was scrolling through when I just saw Karl’s photo with somebody I know and I followed him. Then he added me back, wrote a message saying ‘Hey, do I know you from somewhere?’ And I knew we didn't know each other but that back and forth was how it started," says Lynseyann. Six days later, they met for a date. And so it began…
Married since last autumn, they are only now planning a honeymoon, in April. They say they will probably go to Mexico where they can relax and soak up the sunshine. As they had a beautiful wedding in Italy, a honeymoon straight away was not really on the cards. The couple were playing host to family and friends who travelled to Italy, as well as the fact that they were already in one of their favourite places in the world.
Part of the reason they chose Italy for their nuptials was that Karl proposed to Lynseyann in Rome in 2022. While they had been together for three years at that point, and had talked about marriage, it came as a complete surprise to Lynseyann when Karl popped the question.
Karl chose the beautiful engagement ring himself, "with a little help from Lynn’s (as Karl calls Lynseyann) sister" and just decided that the holiday break they had planned for Rome was where it was going to happen. "It was like a lightning bolt moment, really. I was like, ‘Hey, that's it, I want to propose and there's no ifs or buts or maybes, I’m doing it and that's it’," Karl recalls.
They didn’t really consider Ireland as a venue for their wedding, and a huge ceremony was never on the cards either. There were 50 people in Italy for their big celebration and they both describe it as their perfect day. Lynseyann bought her beautiful dress here and carefully transported it to the venue.
"We got married in a big palazzo. There were different areas for everything that we were doing. The reception itself was in the courtyard and the mayor of the town came to marry us," recalls Lynseyann. "It was the most magical day. As the day went on, everything continued to work perfectly, the reception and the food were wonderful, and the weather was just beautiful on the day," adds Karl.
The lockdown, not very romantic in itself, brought them closer. As Karl explains. "We were together for about six months and everything was still relatively new, and then all of a sudden the Covid pandemic hit here, so we ended up moving in together, which can make or break a relationship, I guess. But I knew from the start that Lynn was ‘the one’ so there was never any kind of doubt. That being said, I know people that actually have broken up because of the pandemic."
They were engaged for 3 and a half years before getting married, and this is the first year that they will be celebrating St Valentine’s Day as a married couple, but they were romantic from the get go.
"We're very soppy, we love all of that romantic stuff. So, we will celebrate Valentine's Day, we do every year actually... not necessarily this year doing anything extravagant as I know I'm filming that week, but every year I get a delivery of red roses and a card and some nice champagne. We'll probably do something similar this year and have a movie night in. Both our birthdays are quite close to Valentine's Day, so sometimes we merge them all into one big celebration," says Lynseyann. "We are probably the most romantic couple I know; we can be big eejits sometimes!"
