RTE star Jennifer Zamparelli has said co-hosting a podcast with pal Lottie Ryan allows her to say what she can’t say on her 2FM show.
The pair have launched a new parenting podcast, Jen and Lottie, where they will dish out the reality of becoming a parent and how it affected their marriages and relationships.
Jennifer said co-hosting the podcast with her friend has been "liberating", admitting she was unsure she should take it on initially.
She said: "I wasn’t up for taking on any more gigs because maybe I was busy, or I want to have more balance with my life, and I want to spend more time with my kids, but this just felt so right, and it just felt so organic and easy and something that was a bit of a therapy session for myself.
"It was so liberating. It was mad because I’ve never felt so free in a discussion obviously. That is the great thing about podcasts, and I had been reluctant to get into the podcast world for so long because I love radio and I love the liveness of it, and I love the reaction and I love what it brings.
"But there is a place for podcasts as well that we know. And the freedom that it brings is a delight to work and we’re just ‘oh my god’ we were just so excited to be able to experience that so that’s been lovely."
Lottie added: "Few people who heard the podcast said to us, 'are you sure, you really went there', and we both went 'yeah'."
Jennifer said: "Look it’s not a shock. It’s not one of those, we’re not going out of our way. We just talk about real things that have happened that we have got through and we experience.
"And to be able to have that freedom and be able to talk about and not worry about upsetting anybody…"
Lottie had previously opened up on the podcast about her fear that she was constantly miscarrying when she was pregnant with her son Wolf.
"I constantly thought I was losing him," she said of Wolf, "constantly in A&E, it was really, really tough."
The presenter said she would "heavily bleed constantly through the second trimester".
The broadcaster said health professionals did not know what was causing the heavy bleeding but let her know she had a condition called bicornuate uterus.
"It basically means your uterus is a heart shape," she explained. "Mine was pretty severe, so Wolf had a very small space to grow in."
Wolf, who was born eight weeks early in June 2021 "ended up coming so early, because he was a bit squished and it was an emergency C-section because he had no room to turn," she said.
"I was constantly bleeding and, without being too graphic, I was passing things that... I was going, 'that's my baby'."
The former Dancing with the Stars winner said at one point, she "took evidence out of the toilet" and brought it to A&E, convinced she had miscarried.
"I was on my own, because it was Covid, and Fabio had to sit out in the car, covered in blood, distraught.
"Thankfully, I went in that day, and they were like: ‘No, you’re still pregnant,' thank God!"
When Wolf was finally born in June 2021 and she saw him for the first time, she said "everything was worth it".
The presenter said she looks at her "absolute trooper" of a son now and thinks "how did I get so lucky?"
READ NEXT:
Met Eireann forecasts glorious weather ahead with sunshine and 20C temperatures
Armed gardai taser and arrest woman in 'hostage situation' after two men injured
Ex Ireland Eurovision finalist says Wild Youth's song 'wasn't original enough'
Leo Varadkar suggests some energy companies and supermarkets are profiteering
Podcast claims Joe Biden said 'I hate the English' in behind-closed-doors rant
Get news updates direct to your inbox by signing up to our daily newsletter here
