RTE sports broadcaster Jacqui Hurley has opened up about her heartbreak after missing out on becoming the next host of The Sunday Game.
Speaking on Doireann Garrihy's podcast The Laughs Of Your Life, Jacqui told the 2fm radio presenter that she almost left RTE after another host was chosen for the job.
She said: "In my career, there's lots of ups and downs, and there's lots of jobs that you don't get.
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"Like for me, when I was a kid, I really wanted The Sunday Game. That was probably what I grew up dreaming of, and then when it came to it, I didn't get it. It really broke my heart at the time.
"There were lots of tears. There was a lot of like, you know, 'This is not going to happen for you', and I was this close to leaving RTE."
Jacqui said she had already accepted another job and had plans to leave the public broadcaster when she was talked around by senior staff members.
She said: "I had effectively accepted another job, and I was, I suppose in a way, I probably didn't see a future for myself in RTE anymore.
"I thought… I suppose the job for me that I thought was the one for me was gone.
"A few senior people in RTE talked me around and just said, 'Look, wait. There's a few more things on the horizon and just trust us.'"
The sports reporter said she has had to ignore comments from those who said she wouldn't make it in the industry and said she is now proud that she is one of the many strong female sports broadcasters working in RTE.
She said: "Along the way, you've got lots of people who'll tell you, 'It's not gonna work out', or, 'It's not going to happen for you', or 'Why should a woman be doing that job that a man has done all the time?' And I kind of think now, I'm very proud of where we have all come.
"And you know like, Joanne and Evanne and Marie and Claire and… Like I would look around RTE and all the really strong female sports broadcasters, I'm really proud to be one of them, and I'm really glad that I stayed."
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