Derry Girls star Tara Lynne O’Neill has spoken out in defence of her co-star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell after Friday night’s awkward interview with Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show.
Ryan Tubridy is still filling the headlines after asking the Derry Girls’ star her age.
The presenter said: "Can I ask you how old you are?" to which Jamie-Lee quickly replied: "I'm 117. I’m very, very wise."
Ryan continued to press for an answer to his question, asking, "Would you consider telling me what age you are?"
Jamie-Lee said, "This is the thing about it that gets on my nerves a wee bit, no disrespect . . . it's quite misogynistic even if it's unintentionally because men don't get the same scrutiny in their career."
Days after the encounter, Jamie-Lee’s co-star who plays Mary on the hit Channel 4 sitcom, defended Jamie-Lee and how she handled the question.
She said: “I think if you’re going to start a question with ‘this may be rude, and you don’t have to answer it.’ I think maybe that’s not a great question to ask.”
She went on to point out that Ryan didn’t let Jamie-Lee finish answering the question, and said “if you’re going to say ‘you don’t have to answer it,’ let somebody answer it.
“I think that was Ryan’s problem.
”I think Jamie-Lee’s a very smart, clever, forward-thinking young girl and I think if he had let her answer the question, it would have been much clearer as to what she meant.
“The girls do get asked about their age quite a lot, and I think if he had just let her finish, he would have left the interview not in a mood but on the funny anecdote she was about to give.
“She was going to find a way to be funny and explain where she was coming from, but obviously Ryan just felt uncomfortable and moved on, and that’s understandable too, but if you start a question with ‘this may be rude,’ just don’t ask it.”
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