| Michelle Doherty (34) | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ballysalla, Glengad, Malin, County Donegal, Ireland |
| Residence | Dublin |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | hairdressing apprenticeship in Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Radio and television presenter, model |
| Employer | Aer Lingus/Phantom 105.2 |
| Known for | presenting Night Shift, the axing of Night Shift |
| Spouse | Single |
| Parents | Ann and Seán Doherty |
Michelle Doherty (age 34) is a multiple award-nominated Irish model and radio/television presenter and a former airline stewardess. She is from Inishowen in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. She presented Night Shift and Day Shift on Channel 6 for a number of years before being removed from her post upon the sudden axing of the show on 31 December 2008.[1]
Since this, she has done some presenting work for Arthur's Day, Finest Work Songs on Phantom FM and, more recently, the RTÉ Two television series Under Ether.
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Doherty is a model with the Morgan modelling agency, having gotten her career break whilst working in Dublin as an air stewardess for the airline Aer Lingus, where she had worked since 1997. She was among twelve well-known females who took part in the "Max Factor Salutes Great Moments in Fashion" show for which she was styled in vintage fashions and hair styles, photographed by fashion photographer Sarah Doyle and wore a figure-hugging black dress by Louise Kennedy for a portrait which was then sold off at a charity auction.[2] She presented Night Shift, the alternative music show on Channel Six, seven nights per week and also on two weekend afternoons. Its axing left her feeling "completely bewildered, and absolutely gutted".[3]
An online campaign to reinstate her on the new 3e roster was launched immediately.[4] Doherty's other careers include a radio show, Finest Work Songs (named after an R.E.M. song),[5] on Phantom FM,[6] co-hosting of the next-to-inaugural Choice Music Prize at Vicar Street, Dublin in February 2007 and being nominated for an IFTA. She also had a presenting role during the Arthur's Day events in Dublin in 2009.[7] She presents When Under Ether for RTÉ Two on Tuesday nights.[8]
She presented Haiti Aid on February 3, 2010 at Whelan's and The Village in Dublin.[9]
Doherty is the second eldest child of her parents, Seán and Ann Doherty, a council engineer and a housewife from Ballysalla, Glengad, a village near Malin in the north of the Inishowen Peninsula in north County Donegal. However, her home is in Letterkenny. After secondary school, she applied to a hairdressing apprenticeship in a small salon in nearby Derry.
Doherty is now well-known for her fast-paced social life and her close friendships with the property investor Eddie Irvine and with the Derry designer Jen Kelly. She met Irvine through mutual friends in Dublin in the late 1990s. She suggests that they get on very well because they are both "very genuine, very honest and straight to the point". Doherty claims to regularly fly across the world to meet him on his travels,[10] yet persistently denies rumours that they are in a relationship or that she ever previously dated him. She is in fact single but does not buy into the notion of celebrity[11] and has a dislike for "all those pale boys in black skinny jeans" who are to be seen "every time you go to a gig" and "there's like loads of them hanging around". She has however expressed her liking of "tall guys who are built".[12] Musically she has expressed interest in a wide range of bands including Kings of Leon, The Raconteurs, Band of Horses, The Chemical Brothers and Róisín Murphy.[13]
As well as being nominated for an IFTA, Doherty has been nominated for Ireland's TV Personality of the Year award alongside Lorraine Keane of TV3 but ultimately lost out to Kathryn Thomas of Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ).[14]
Doherty has won the Best Irish Radio DJ category in the Hot Press Annual Poll in 2009 and 2010 becoming the first female DJ to do so.[15]