"I had a really tough year" - Kildare's Róisín Murphy reveals she won't appear in new season of Home Rescue TV show

Kildare native Roísín Murphy, the host of RTÉ's Home Rescue, has revealed that she will not be returning for the next season of the hit show.

The architect and presenter, who grew up in Monasterevin and the Curragh Camp, meant that family circumstances meant that she couldn't travel around the country to refurbish people's homes. 

She said: "I had to step aside this year because I had a really tough last year. I lost my dad, I had a really sick kid. I'm so sorry, but at the same extent, my family really needed me."

Speaking to Lottie Ryan on the Jennifer Zamparelli Show on 2FM, Róisín added: 

"Home Rescue is still going on, Peter Finn is still going on and the team will still go around and do the houses.

She joked: "I'm calling it a menopausal year or break, like maternity leave."

However she insisted that she's not stepping completely away from work, however, and will still be making programmes. "I got grounded, Lottie! I got grounded by the family", she joked.

She also mentioned she had previously taken time away from work to care for her family. "You think that that journey is over", she says. "But actually, I've got a kid doing the Leaving Cert as well, and my dad died. It was really strange, I thought, 'that's fine, he'd a great life', but actually you carry your journeys with you."

"Home Rescue's extremely intense", she adds. "The work that goes into it is incredible. It's a force of nature, and like that, I'm hoping I'll rejoin it at some stage."

"Stepping aside is something I thought I'd never get back. You know the way as women, you're told, 'okay, you've done that now. You're done, that's it, you've had the babies, you're off, career'. But really, you still have lots to offer.

"Because of the dreaded social media, you still stay connected, you're still involved in the world in a different way. It has brought us closer as well."

Roísín said she's a "real doer", so this phase can be challenging. "You achieve things by doing, so you'll be first round with a pot of tea and sandwiches. This year, no. There was no pots of tea, when one part of my life involves somebody falling off a bike and getting open-heart surgery, there is no escaping life. Life just throws things in front of people."

She added that RTÉ tried to adapt the show to work with her, but it wasn't possible. "I just reckon this is part of the journey", she adds. "I can't go around the country for six months, I have to be with my kids at the moment. My kids and my family are everything to me."

Fans won't have to wait too long to hear from Roisin, however, as she's publishing a book in the new year. Two years in the works, she's committed to having it finished.

Róisín is currently promoting the National Upcycling Challenge 2022, visit mywaste.ie.