The last two weeks have been super exciting. I was invited to do a screen test for RTE's Today Show. RTE is the national broadcaster of Ireland and the Today Show is an afternoon magazine show broadcast from RTE's studios in Cork City. I told no-one except close family about it. Live television is not for everybody and until you have to go through the rigours of a cooking demo live on telly, with all its time constraints and the self conciousness that goes with it, it is hard to understand why.

To begin with, you have only 6 to 7 minutes to do everything: you need to cook, chat, answer questions, instruct and plate food, all the while smiling and not showing how terrified and panicked you truly are. Then there is one minute left for tasting the food and say your good-byes. Hence, the screen tests. There are many very talented chefs and cooks who just don't transfer well to telly, so I told no-one about it.

I got myself to Cork early on a Monday morning with all my ingredients and my lovely niece Daili came with me for moral support. The production team was absolutely amazing, they made me feel at ease, walked me through the ins and outs of live telly and showed me the studio kitchen. They were encouraging, super friendly and helpful. I was a ball of nerves and when the screen test was done, I felt as if I had run a marathon! I was exhausted!! A few days after I was contacted again and was told they liked me and wanted me on the show. Man I was super happy and proud! Then it hit me: I had to do it now for real!! After a bit of discussion we chose a recipe and they gave me a date.