How Katy became our favourite celeb
Katy arrives for her birthday party
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Just who is Katy French? That's what many people were asking yesterday when it was revealed on the front page of the Irish Independent that she was in a critical condition in hospital after collapsing at a friend's house in Ashbourne.
French became Ireland's best-known model after a number of shrewd career moves -- pushing aside such rivals as Glenda Gilson and Rosanna Davison -- to take the crown herself.
If there is such a thing as an Irish supermodel -- then 24-year-old Katy is certainly it. But here "models" don't sashay up and down carpeted catwalks showing off the latest designer creations -- instead they're usually to be found freezing their proverbials off in the middle of winter in a bikini at the top of Grafton Street to launch a mobile phone.
Katy has been modelling for several years with the top Assets agency -- but she only became a household name when she and her restaurateur fiancé, the perma-tanned Marcus Sweeney, had a very public split.
He saw all shades of red, and indeed orange, when he stumbled across her doing a photoshoot in his city-centre restaurant -- spread across his top table and wearing only some sexy lingerie.
Their break-up even hit the radio waves. On Liveline, where Marcus tried in vain to defend himself against some disgruntled foreign national employees who claimed they were owed money by him.
Despite being photographed together a couple of times after the split, Katy and Marcus did not get back together but, by then, the 'Katy French' phenomeneon was well and truly launched.
Katy had became the country's most in-demand model -- doing not only photoshoots but also personal appearances with the likes of Calum Best and Ireland and England's top party people.
If a launch needed a bit of sexing up, then Katy was the one for the job. Glenda Gilson and former Miss World Rosanna Davison could only look on as their appeal faded. It was a crown that Katy stole from Glenda, the former girlfriend of Irish rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll. Although the pair insisted that there was no rivalry, they were never spotted socialising together.
And socialising is one of the mainstays of being an Irish model. In fact it's their lifeblood. If Katy, Rosanna and Glenda are not featured in the gossip columns every week -- then there's something very wrong.
They proudly lead the beautiful people from Renards to Lillie's to Krystle, hanging out in the VIP area in each nightclub.
Katy became known as a gal who would do nearly anything for a laugh. If there was a photocall beside water -- then you could be sure she would end up modelling a wet T-shirt and stealing the limelight from any models foolish enough to be working with her.
Katy had always denied taking cocaine -- the party drug that fuels many late night gatherings in Dublin. But just over a week ago she had a complete turnaround and admitted that she had used it when she was 19.
"I just got caught up in the whole scene. I feel we need to be more honest, stop living in denial and take responsibility. When you are doing coke the highs are great but the lows are very low.
"Apart from the effect it had on my personality and... love life, it was taking all my money as well. Cocaine destroys lives and that's why I wanted to talk publicly about it," she stated.
Katy hit the headlines again bigtime when she celebrated her recent 24th birthday. She did a photo session for one newspaper -- during which she was presented her with a cream cake. After the official shoot, she reportedly spread some cream across the top of her breasts, which one of the paper's writers then licked off!
But when he realised the photographer was snapping away and the pictures could possibly be published, he saw sense and asked for them not to be used.
Katy then blithely announced that her birthday party was going to be a star-studded affair. It was beginning to look like the model -- who featured in the RTE reality show Celebrities Go Wild last month -- was beginning to believe her own publicity.
She booked the VIP area of Krystle nightclub for the big bash, and up to the last minute was telling anyone who would listen that members of top rock bands Snow Patrol and The Stereophonics were definitely coming.
In the end it turned out to be a decidedly star-free zone. Katy arrived in a limo with her mother and sister, flashing plenty of leg for the waiting cameras as she stepped out. Free champagne and tequila had been organised for guests -- but as one of them commented: "It was more like an NUJ convention that a party." In fact it seemed like every journalist in town had been invited -- and turned up just to see what Katy did next.
No superstars, no stars and not even a Z- list celebrity turned up. And to make matters worse, one of the papers the next day published a picture of Katy disembarking from the limo and suggesting that she was displaying some, gasp, cellulite.
In fact, besides posing with her mum and then her cake, the only other person she could pose with was her fellow Celebrities Go Wild contestant Michael Healy-Rae. Not even her fellow models turned up for the well-planned bash, possibly showing how the green-eyed monster roams around the Dublin scene.
But the nation enjoyed the party by proxy, with pictures of the bubbly young blonde appearing in all the papers the following day. And, no doubt, there will be prayers from many who have never met her for a speedy recovery from her illness.
- Stephen Hill
