Getting bubbly with a ‘scummy mummy’

AMANDA Brunker is known for her vivacious personality, stunning good looks, voluptuous figure, high profile weight loss and her hectic social life, but beneath it all, she is just one of the girls, juggling a busy career and family life.
Last month Brunker released her third book, Champagne Secrets, the third (and last) in the trilogy following on from Champagne Babes and Champagne Kisses.
Over the years she has acquired celebrity status, following on from her Miss Ireland crown and through her column with The Sunday World and her regular appearances on daytime TV programmes, including TV3’s Midday.
The author was signing copies of her book in Ennis Bookshop last Friday afternoon. She was inundated with well-wishers, ladies anxious to see what Amanda looked like in ‘real life’ and men also giddy to see if she lived up to some of her more high profile photoshoots. Some of the men too seemed eager to earn brownie points with their other halves and thought that a signed copy of Brunker’s book might do the trick.
Amanda explained that it took her about a year and a half to write her first book, about a year for the second and less than six months for her most recent release. She is also currently working on her fourth book, not part of the Champagne series, which she also intends to be made into a play. “I’m not going to say too much about it. It will be quite different with totally new characters, but of course there will be a lot of fun in it too,” she added.
She has to have the new book finished by the end of the year and says she is under some pressure with her workload currently, that and her other role as a mum-of-two.
“My life is terribly dull these days because I work really hard and I’m a mother. Occasionally I get to go out and be a small piece of me. My husband, Philip, gets the raw deal to be honest, because I’m so busy. I’m so lucky that he’s a hands-on dad and takes on so much with the boys,” she remarked. Her son, Edward, is four and Setanta is three.
“It is a challenge juggling everything these days. I remember interviewing Lorraine Keane once and she said that the juggle is a struggle and it really is. There are times when I feel, like many other mothers of young children, that there aren’t enough hours in the day. However, I also feel that if there were more hours in the day I would definitely collapse, because I just wouldn’t have the energy to keep going,” she says.
Most women would find it hard to believe that she ever looks anything less than lovely but she swears that most days when she’s with her boys and doing normal mother and children things, that she hardly even brushes her hair and doesn’t put any make-up on.
“It’s a funny thing because people see me and I’m all made up, hair done, nice clothes and a pair of heels on, but that’s only a part of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love that part of my life. But in reality I am the ultimate scummy mummy.
“At home or when I’m hanging out with the boys, I’m wearing black tracksuit pants, a t-shirt, hair pulled back in a pony tail and a pair of trainers, all day every day. I’m sure people up in my local Spar must think when they see me like that that it’s a one-off but honestly it’s not. That’s the way I’ll be dressed most of the time, when I’m not working.
“I basically have two wardrobes – my working wardrobe and my mum wardrobe. I don’t do my hair properly or put on make-up every day, there simply isn’t time. It’s practically unattainable to have it all. I am very good at time management but things do get left behind. Sometimes I’m exhausted and I’m tetchy. I regret that I don’t get to see my friends more, but something has got to give and as much as possible I don’t want it to be my children that lose out,” Amanda commented.
When she and Philip decided that they wanted to have children, they originally thought four would be a nice-sized family but they’ve refined this somewhat now. 
“I think my family is complete now. I would have loved a little girl, like most women do. When we made the decision that we wanted children we thought we’d like to have three or four but now with two little boys, we’re finding that having children is expensive. The reality is that financially we’re stretched with two, so as parents it would be irresponsible to add to our family if we can’t really afford it.”
Her husband runs his own online sports company and Amanda says that because he is self-employed he has to work all kinds of hours.
“I think business is going okay for him. I think survival is the new success really. The two of us work hard and we don’t take what we have for granted. We consider ourselves lucky to both have jobs and to have a fairly good standard of living,” she said.
While she stresses how busy she is these days, she admits that she loves the buzz of being busy and of being involved in a number of projects at any one time.
“If I was just doing the same thing all of the time, I think I’d go crazy. I love being involved with Midday on TV3 too and I love writing for The Sunday World and of course I have my writing career. But there are still so many things I’d love to do.
“I originally wanted to be a painter. My sister is a very successful sculptor, so I didn’t want to go into that area in case I did badly and then I’d be forever the poor man’s Linda Brunker. But definitely art, drawing and painting is something I’d like to come back to. I painted before I had the boys and it’s something I’d love to do again,” Amanda explains.
She hasn’t done catwalk modelling in a number of years but still models for promotional purposes and for fundraising events.
“I don’t think I’m the right shape for catwalks anymore, but in saying that, I’m comfortable with my shape. The world and its mother knows about my weight loss and how hard I worked to lose weight and I’m glad I lost it – I feel better for it. I’ve become a lot more confident about my body and my shape as I’ve got older. My body hasn’t got better as I got older, but it’s better now than what it was a few years ago.
“I’m very happy with myself and my look at the moment. I try to eat healthily most of the time. I’d be lying if I said I did all of the time. What I feel is we all have to have a bit of fun.  I’d never be militant about it. I have very bad willpower. I’m lucky because I work at home most of the year, which means that I pick and chose what’s in the fridge and can prepare my own food. But when I’m out on the road, like most people, I’ll grab a breakfast roll or whatever’s going. I think everything in moderation.
“My brother died when he was 37 and my sister had a health scare when she was 38, so now I’m 36 and the way I see it is I’d be foolish to be reckless with my diet and my health.
“I eat everything in moderation and that keeps me sane. Come Friday night if we’re getting a take away or something like that I’m not going to not have it. I’m just not going to have all of the trimmings, or I’ll chose the thing I feel is slightly less fattening off the menu,” she explained.
She also loves to walk. “We have a big dog and most evenings I get out for a walk with him. I solve the world’s problems in my head when I’m out walking. It blows the cobwebs off me.”
Recently, she got a bike and now she cycles around Dublin city.
“Cycling is brilliant exercise and is wonderful for losing weight and toning up. The thing about going out for a walk or a cycle, especially in the evening, is that you’re not picking at food or getting food out of the fridge. So it’s a win-win situation.
“I have to admit it also gives me a half an hour to an hour on my own to work through my thoughts. At the end of the day to be a good parent you have to have your head straight, so it’s important to look after yourself too,” she concluded.