2FM broadcaster Jennifer Zamparelli says if you are thinking of getting Botox, make sure to find a good doctor.
The Dublin presenter is back with the second season of RTE family quiz show Home Advantage after finishing her latest gig with Dancing With The Stars, which she co-hosted with Nicky Byrne.
When we catch up for a chat Jen, who is mum to Florence, six, and three-year-old Enzo, has just had a beauty treatment.
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She reveals: “I’m out of a facial, I love the invasive facial. I get a genoa super facial, it can be tingly, I want to feel like it’s doing something. If you want to get botox find yourself a good doctor if that’s what you want to do, but a lot of results can be gotten by microneedling or microdermabrasion.
“But people don’t want to wait, they want the quick fix.
“With these treatments you need to do a course of six or eight; it’s not an overnight fix.
“I’ve had botox, but a little goes a long way, I have really deep frown lines, so my doctor is great. My doctor Edel talks me off a ledge sometimes advising against too much and would recommend microneedling instead.
“You have to go to a good doc, you want that person to know what they’re doing.
“You’re sticking a needle in your face, you hear of these botox parties where they don’t know what they’re doing.”
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She added: “I do tend to work out quite a bit, I’d be in the gym at least three times a week.
“I’m s***e at the drink, I keep all my calories for the booze, I need to knock that on the head.”
As Jen returns to our TV screens, she has told how “it’s a feast or a famine” in Irish TV and she never knows when the phone will stop ringing.
But the mum-of-two admits it’s hard to turn down work in case they dry up.
Jennifer, 42, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “It just happens sometimes it’s either a feast or a famine when it comes to gigs.
“I’m in two minds at the moment whether to take the one I’ve just been offered.
“Really I try not to make decisions on ego any more and more on life and work balance.
“That’s hard to do in this industry as you never know when the next gig is going to come or when the phone will stop ringing.
“So it’s hard to say no, but you just have to have a bit of confidence in yourself that it will be OK and what’s for you won’t pass you.”
The Jennifer Zamparelli Show on 2fm is now the biggest rating winner for the station and she says she’s chuffed at her “steady growth.”
Jen took on Gerry Ryan’s old time slot and said she’s thrilled she still has some of the legendary broadcaster’s faithful listers.
She added: “I didn’t realise the gravitas of his radio career because I was away for so much of my young adult life, we still get people who listened to him, who listen to my show.
“We had a vision for the show, an audience in a certain age bracket, I wanted to create something I’d listen to myself.
“I suppose being true to yourself and figuring out what people are talking about in pubs or when girls go for coffee themselves.
“What will be interesting and topical. We do a quiz, we have guests on, we talk to prisoners, we do newsy bits, I love it.”
As for sex talk, it’s all up for discussion: “I’ve no problem sharing my sex life, if you expect your listeners to share you can’t not.”
Reflecting on her own love life, she reveals how her stuntman husband Lau is away a lot of the time filming.
Jen said: “It helps, distance makes the heart grow fonder but we laugh a lot.
“He still makes me laugh which is so important and I can tell him absolutely anything, no holds barred.”
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The media star who rose to fame on the UK’s Apprentice in 2008 says the experience was so bad she can’t bring herself to watch reality TV now.
She said: “I can’t watch reality shows, it triggers how bad it was.
“I was on the show before there was any social media. I don’t think they’ll ever be prepared for the type of fame they’re thrown into. But they are so disposable.”
Jen suffered from serious “mammy guilt” on the last series of Dancing With The Stars when her son Enzo broke his tooth when she was filming the show.
But lately she says, balance is key.
Jen said: “It’s about balance, if I’m going to be working, I say no to other things so I can give them quality time.
“We’re all just doing our best whether we work two or 12 hours, every family is different, we can’t compare.
“We need to stop comparing and feeling so bad about ourselves.”
Jen famously quit shopping for a year and says she’s now more eco as a result. She said: “I’m still a very conscious shopper, I try to only buy good quality stuff.
“I’m really conscious now, before I would have been flippant, taking a year off shopping made me like that.
“Before I would have been like, I earned this money, I deserve it, I like it, but I wouldn’t be wandering around Zara having a look I’ve no interest.”
Last week Derry Girls star Jamie Lee O’Donnell who plays Michelle Mallon on the hit show accused Ryan Tubridy of being misogynistic when he asked her her age.
Weighing in on the age question, Jen said: “I don’t mind being asked about my age, since I turned 40 I’ve had a serious dose of the F**k its and I don’t care anymore. I celebrate my birthday more, I’m quite proud of where I’m at, I’m quite proud of my age we don’t’ need to feel ashamed.
“I don’t know why she said that, I thought it was quite odd, but I guess she had her reasons.”
Proud too of her latest family entertainment show, Home Advantage, Jen adds: “I’m literally just finished filming that, the last time we were filming it, was in the height of Covid.
“Families are deadly, there’s more money to be made and it’s been great, I love the fact it’s family entertainment.
“Dancing With The Stars is a beast of a show but Home Advantage is great and really resonates with quizzers.”
Home Advantage continues on RTE One next Saturday at 8.30pm
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