Irish celebrities who suddenly vanished out of the spotlight

Hangdogroad wrote: »

O Gorman and Kevin Sharkey nearly came to blows behind the scenes apparently. Two deeply strange individuals.

Water John wrote: »

It showed O'Gorman was a very strange individual.

Tbf, there was a LOT of alcohol on the premises. As Sharkey spoke about after (he didn't do the LLS, he was on Eamon Dunphy's show instead) they were often without toilet paper, but there was plenty of alcohol.

So of course, keep em wasted drunk, and you got dramatics.

Tho Sharkey later went completely broke-lost all his money, and never recovered.

Apparently he was spending like crazy, split with his boyfriend, started dating women again. (Remember Sharkey was going to the European Court to demand he have the right to marry his boyfriend? This was years before the Marriage ref.).

Apparently Sharkey spent like there was no tomorrow. Even another artist, 'Guggi', said Sharkey was rather reckless with money. (Guggi was more careful with money-having a large family made him money conscious).

[Deleted User]

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

Even another artist, 'Guggi', said Sharkey was rather reckless with money. (Guggi was more careful with money-having a large family made him money conscious).

I'd guess that having Bono as his best buddy allowed Guggi a little more freedom than most artists.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I'd guess that having Bono as his best buddy allowed Guggi a little more freedom than most artists.

Well, the music career didn't really work out-so I'd say he knew how it can all fall apart so easily.

That and he has about 7 or 8 children, I think. Lots of mouths to feed.

Sharkey tried being a tv presenter (before my time, I must say-but I think reeling in the years would often show clips. Actually, come to think of it, rather bizarre RTE isn't showing much of Reeling in the years atm). Acting didn't work out (Cameo'd in Fr Ted). I think he tried music too. Wasn't he dating Sinead O' connor at one point?

Sharkey was also trying to be a politician... running for president or something.
Didn't get much support there either.

Guggi kind of knows that he can't complain if he finds success in some medium. But Sharkey keeps dipping his toes in, despite his doing pretty well in the art biz. He just seemed to drop the ball.

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

Well, the music career didn't really work out-so I'd say he knew how it can all fall apart so easily.

That and he has about 7 or 8 children, I think. Lots of mouths to feed.

Sharkey tried being a tv presenter (before my time, I must say-but I think reeling in the years would often show clips. Actually, come to think of it, rather bizarre RTE isn't showing much of Reeling in the years atm). Acting didn't work out (Cameo'd in Fr Ted). I think he tried music too. Wasn't he dating Sinead O' connor at one point?

Sharkey was also trying to be a politician... running for president or something.
Didn't get much support there either.

Guggi kind of knows that he can't complain if he finds success in some medium. But Sharkey keeps dipping his toes in, despite his doing pretty well in the art biz. He just seemed to drop the ball.

Starkey Co presented a music show called Megamix with Flo Macsweeny circa 86 87. He vanished out of the spotlight after that for a while. Turned out he'd moved to Japan for a few years. I remember when he still with RTE the Sunday World showed ran a story that he'd appeared in nude photos in a gay magazine in England in the 70s complete with said photos. I don't know if that had any bearing with him departing from RTE but it might have given the attitude at the time.

Muahahaha

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

Tho Sharkey later went completely broke-lost all his money, and never recovered.

Sharkey has had somewhat of a recovery- he had an exhibit in Malahide just last weekend and sold out everything, I think it was around 40 paintings ranging in price from 1.5k up to 8k. So he is back on his feet at least to some extent.

But yeah in the boom he completely overextended himself. He had a galleries in London, New York and Ibiza all at the same time. The value of his paintings got a huge boost after Charles Saatchi became a collector and Sharkey tried to capitalise by making it a production line. But then the recession hit the art market hard and his gallieries failed.

At one point circa 2009 he had a small shop in Temple Bar where he personally sold his art, I popped in one day and had to resist the urge to ask him about Father Ted. He ran a promotion where everything was 500 euro, it was like a firesale of his art. A sister of mine bought one, beautiful piece that she still has in her living room.

Water John

Quite often people with a specific talent are better off having someone they can trust, do the business operational end of the business.

Water John wrote: »

Quite often people with a specific talent are better off having someone they can trust, do the business operational end of the business.

In theory yes, but sometimes the person they think they can trust is the one who vanishes ... with their money

TomSweeney

Anyone remember Six ?

Pop group that won some sort of "Ireland's got talent" show about 20 years ago.

TomSweeney wrote: »

Anyone remember Six ?

Pop group that won some sort of "Ireland's got talent" show about 20 years ago.

I can't remember the music so much as...

I remember that Nadine Coyle (Girls Aloud) was chosen then found out to be 16...
And Emma went on to present RTE kids shows?

... but after googling "There's A Whole Lotta Loving Going On" is starting to play in my mind.

OIP.Cn62geh1fmxfpkX40SU5hwHaE7?pid=Api&rs=1

OIP.Cn62geh1fmxfpkX40SU5hwHaE7?pid=Api&rs=1

odyssey06 wrote: »

I can't remember the music so much as...

I remember that Nadine Coyle (Girls Aloud) was chosen then found out to be 16...
And Emma went on to present RTE kids shows?

... but after googling "There's A Whole Lotta Loving Going On" is starting to play in my mind.

Sinead Shepherd became a councillor in Cobh afterwards and would pop up in panto. Other than the other two you mentioned that's the depth of my knowledge on them.

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Sinead Shepherd became a councillor in Cobh afterwards and would pop up in panto. Other than the other two you mentioned that's the depth of my knowledge on them.

Wikipedia tells me that...
Liam McKenna is a TV presenter and tour manager for Jedward.

So we have a vanishing celebrity squared alert. Bonus points there.

And I found this interesting:
Following 'Popstars' being broadcast in New Zealand, Norway and South Africa, their debut single also charted in these countries, peaking at number six in New Zealand, reaching the top 5 in Norway, Poland and Iceland, and peaking at number two in Sweden.

Buddy of mine did some work with Emma (she also does panto) - apparently a very nice person. Even when she was working on TV, there were no airs or graces about her.

She got married a while back, and has at least one kid.

She was on a tv show years back, Inside 252, and she got some serious bullying from Amanda Brunker and Fiona McShane (memba her?). Nasty, bitter stuff altogether. (Brunker continued it long after, in the Sunday World-said Emma had gotten plastic surgery and all that jazz.)

And then Brunker and McShane were rewarded for their bullying... by being given their own (separate) TV shows. (Their shows tanked-they were atrocious, both of them).

TomSweeney wrote: »

Anyone remember Six ?

Pop group that won some sort of "Ireland's got talent" show about 20 years ago.

That was a "proving ground" for Xfactor/Britians got talent. They proved you could sell the show to a national audience and get them rooting for "team" and either phoning in and/or watching weekly with updates.

The show succeeded and the band failed but who cares Simon and Louis got their foot hold TV show. Then all they wanted was sponsorship. Has to be one of the dumbest forms of entertainment I have seen on TV, barely being pipped by big brother shows.

skooterblue2 wrote: »

That was a "proving ground" for Xfactor/Britians got talent. They proved you could sell the show to a national audience and get them rooting for "team" and either phoning in and/or watching weekly with updates.

The show succeeded and the band failed but who cares Simon and Louis got their foot hold TV show. Then all they wanted was sponsorship. Has to be one of the dumbest forms of entertainment I have seen on TV, barely being pipped by big brother shows.

Tbf, Cowell was already making money on shows like Pop Idol, and PopStars in the UK preceded the Irish one.

Tho Popstars (the Irish show) did have early appearances from the likes of Una Healy, and Brian Ormond. (God, Ormond was in plenty of groups that went nowhere-even prior to doing the reality tv rounds).

Pawwed Rig

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

Buddy of mine did some work with Emma (she also does panto) - apparently a very nice person. Even when she was working on TV, there were no airs or graces about her.

Might have missed something but who is Emma?

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Might have missed something but who is Emma?

Am assuming it's Emma from Six...

odyssey06 wrote: »

Am assuming it's Emma from Six...

Emma O Driscoll who went on to present the Den, it might have been called something else by that time.

Pawwed Rig

Oh ok. Wasn't aware that you were still talking about 6.

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

God, Ormond was in plenty of groups that went nowhere-even prior to doing the reality tv rounds.

Did you ever think that set a pattern for his life? Lol.
You know what happened there? He borrowed money from Tubbs and few others. What ever he borrowed it for or investments didnt work out so "someone" called the Viper on him. Lets give the Viper his due, he was a political prisoner (INLA), and bombmaker btw he also is into Bridge and competitive knitting. nice guy all round. When he is on your case you pay. He is now all legal and has debt collection agency, kind of like a travel agency but he doesnt wear a scarf around his neck, but he will put a leather belt around your neck instead.

So Brian Ormond is married to the model Pippa O Connor sister of Cian O Connor the disgraced show jumper.

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

and Brian Ormond.

That is the great thing about money, if you throw enough money at a problem you can get to the top but it is no substitute for talent. Never say €50k at the Billie Barry school was wasted.

skooterblue2 wrote: »

Did you ever think that set a pattern for his life? Lol.
You know what happened there? He borrowed money from Tubbs and few others. What ever he borrowed it for or investments didnt work out so "someone" called the Viper on him. Lets give the Viper his due, he was a political prisoner (INLA), and bombmaker btw he also is into Bridge and competitive knitting. nice guy all round. When he is on your case you pay. He is now all legal and has debt collection agency, kind of like a travel agency but he doesnt wear a scarf around his neck, but he will put a leather belt around your neck instead.

So Brian Ormond is married to the model Pippa O Connor sister of Cian O Connor the disgraced show jumper.

Oh yeah, he borrowed money as part of some 'investment' scheme (ie scam) that was meant to pay off dividends for those involved. Problem was, some of those who he got to sign on to the scheme were pretty much regular joe soaps.
They couldn't afford to lose 40 grand.

As all this was going on, Brian was hosting that 'Winning Streak' summer fill in show (that aired on youtube, not on TV). Wasn't a good look for the Lottery to have this Money Launderer (dunno what else you'd call it) hosting the show, especially with the big money promo it had been involved in.

He screwed himself. Can't really blame anyone else.

And yeah... Pippa..went from a chunky girl to the lady now. Sadly, still looks like a horse.

ButtersSuki

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

Oh yeah, he borrowed money as part of some 'investment' scheme (ie scam) that was meant to pay off dividends for those involved. Problem was, some of those who he got to sign on to the scheme were pretty much regular joe soaps.
They couldn't afford to lose 40 grand.

As all this was going on, Brian was hosting that 'Winning Streak' summer fill in show (that aired on youtube, not on TV). Wasn't a good look for the Lottery to have this Money Launderer (dunno what else you'd call it) hosting the show, especially with the big money promo it had been involved in.

He screwed himself. Can't really blame anyone else.

And yeah... Pippa..went from a chunky girl to the lady now. Sadly, still looks like a horse.

Any articles on this Ormond “scam”? I’d love to read/learn more.....

Muahahaha

yeah had never heard of that Ormond investment thing but he strikes me as not very smart so it makes sense. AFAIK he is working for Pippa these days and her influencing. Pippa is definitely making bank flogging clothes and make up because a few years back she was moaning about her huge Tiger mortgage in Ratoath but when the Instagram thing took off she sold up and bought a house on the grounds of the K Club.

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah had never heard of that Ormond investment thing but he strikes me as not very smart so it makes sense. AFAIK he is working for Pippa these days and her influencing. Pippa is definitely making bank flogging clothes and make up because a few years back she was moaning about her huge Tiger mortgage in Ratoath but when the Instagram thing took off she sold up and bought a house on the grounds of the K Club.

Just because you got a plumb job in RTE means nothing only that you got degree from Dublin Business School (daddy bought scholarship). Gaybo was the same, everyone and their mother conned money out of him, including Simon Harris Grandfather. "The stock market and investments is no place for widows and orphans". 90% of people lose 90% of their wealth in 90 days, its known as the 90/90/90 rule.

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

As all this was going on, Brian was hosting that 'Winning Streak' summer fill in show (that aired on youtube, not on TV). Wasn't a good look for the Lottery to have this Money Launderer (dunno what else you'd call it) hosting the show, especially with the big money promo it had been involved in.

The crowd that used to run the Irish National Lottery run 80% of the lotterys world wide. I used to work for subcontractor of theirs. They had friends with interests in the hospitality industry in Las Vegas if you know what I mean. Now I couldnt see the money being paid out but from the ticket sales I could see every week that they sold EIGHT times more than what the Jackpot was worth, if the jackpot was won that week. Crazy stuff. The Lottery is a proportional tax on stupidity

skooterblue2 wrote: »

Just because you got a plumb job in RTE means nothing only that you got degree from Dublin Business School (daddy bought scholarship). Gaybo was the same, everyone and their mother conned money out of him, including Simon Harris Grandfather. "The stock market and investments is no place for widows and orphans". 90% of people lose 90% of their wealth in 90 days, its known as the 90/90/90 rule.

Brian doesn't have that-he's a qualified electrician, from what I remember. (But qualifications mean squat-you gotta have the 'it' factor).

I think it was just how dodgy the whole deal was (not just that the Viper was called in to collect), and that Brian called in Gerald Kean to bail him out, left you knowing how serious the whole thing was.

Wasn't it Eoghan Murphy's grandfather who conned money out of him? And it was Ryan Tubridy's grandfather who tried to get the Late Late show axed.

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah had never heard of that Ormond investment thing but he strikes me as not very smart so it makes sense. AFAIK he is working for Pippa these days and her influencing.

Brian was never the brightest- I'd say the Oil deal was the final straw with whoever was employing him.

Pippa's on the rte homepage flogging the 'fashion' again. When him and Pippa sold the rights to their wedding to RTE, I think even their mildest critics saw them for the fart sniffers they were.

Speaking of someone who completely vanished out of the spotlight, anyone remember Kathleen O'Rourke?

She was a standup comedienne, wrote and starred in 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' which was nominated for an Oscar back in 2010.

Saw her do standup on tv a few times. She wasn't bad. Lost a lot of weight after she did that standup.

Case in point, pictured at some parade in 2010-she's obviously not the guy with the beard.

Graiguecullen-St.-Patricks-Day-Parade-2010-07.jpg

GT89

Craig Doyle haven't seen him on Irish or UK TV in years

thesandeman

GT89 wrote: »

Craig Doyle haven't seen him on Irish or UK TV in years

He must have done a disappearing act.