‘Oh, Me Nerves!’ – Mairead Farrell on Spending a Week on the Edge of her Seat

It may have felt as though the whole world was tuning in to watch Katie Taylor in action last Thursday, but Today FM's Mairead Farrell was one of the lucky few actually there.

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‘Oh, Me Nerves!’ – Mairead Farrell on Spending a Week on the Edge of her Seat

People say nerves are good. After the last few days I don’t agree. My nerves have had me gripped for the last week.

It started with Katie Taylor’s first fight last Monday. Those butterflies were doing somersaults in my tummy as she took to the ring. Part of the feeling was willing her on to win, the other part was because we had bought very expensive tickets to ‘her’ final. But she had to win two fights before she got to ‘her’ final!

But Katie did was she does best and we all know the story now; she boxed and won. And did so with grace. So to the final, on Thursday the 9^th Of August. I had to work at 7.30 am on the Ray D’Arcy show.

I got to leave Today FM headquarters Marconi House at 10.30am to catch a flight at 12 noon. I was so nervous that my flight would be delayed because of the morning fog, but it took off on time. On the flight more nerves crept in – ‘What if I get on the wrong tube?’ (I’ve done that already in London a few times and landed a fair distance away from where I was meant to be.) Somehow, I made it to the ExCel arena at 3 pm, plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere and grab a much needed drink – why was I worrying?

Mairead proudly showing off her golden ticket before Katie Taylor’s final

The vibe was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I felt so proud (and lucky) just being there. But for the whole time, I was nervous! I couldn’t eat, I was sipping my beer along with water… In fact I was so bad at one point I thought; ‘I’m not sure if I’m going to enjoy any of this experience’.

Flying the flag: Mairead posing with a flag in support of Katie Taylor inside London’s ExCeL Arena

Thankfully, the golden result made the tummy tumbles disappear – albeit just for a day or two.

Today I’m a different kind of nervous – I’m sitting in for Ray D’Arcy on Today FM this week while he’s on his summer holidays with Jenny and the kids. I’ve worked with Ray for over ten years. I sit in the same seat everyday and do the same thing everyday too. But this week I’m being turfed out of my comfy seat and put in to ‘daddy’s office chair’. I’ll be totally out of my comfort zone, so if you see me with a massive rash… ‘It’s me nerves!’