‘I am such a home bird’

Holly Carpenter on staying in Ireland and giving lads dating advice

She hit the headlines (and went viral recently) when she gave her honest tips about how Snapchat really works – and now Holly Carpenter is being approached by lads for DATING advice.
The Clontarf native did a blogpost recently on what girls really mean in the pictures they send on Snapchat and was shocked when it caught the attention of people worldwide.
She told U magazine: “I found the whole thing funny. I thought it was a good enough piece, but I didn’t know how many people were going to relate to it. And then I went off to America to visit my brother, then while I was kind of going in and out of the Wi-Fi zones, my followers were flying up, and I was like, ‘what the hell is going on?’, and everyone was just like, ‘oh my god it’s everywhere’, like FHM, Playboy, MTV, all this insane stuff.
“So it was brilliant that people could relate to it and they found it funny. It’s nice as well to show people that I can have a laugh and I’ve a sense of humour as well, and that’s what I love about having a blog, because being a model, if people only ever see you looking perfect in glossy magazines they can’t relate to you, because that’s just an unrealistic side of you.
“But when you’re able to show people that you can have the craic and stuff it’s nice, because then girls are like ‘aw, we’d like to go for a drink with her, she’s actually gas’ or whatever, you know, so it’s nice,” she added.
And since her blog – hollycarpenterblog.com – exploded Holly said she’s been approached by more men – but it’s not what you think. “Yeah I actually have had a few tweets and a few funny messages, but also I’ve had a lot of mails on Facebook actually asking me for copies, which is sweet. And it’s kind of funny cause it’s like the blind leading blind, I’m no actual love expert, but I think guys can see that I’m really honest and I actually am easy to talk to, so a few guys have come up saying, ‘I don’t know if you mind, but I kind of wanted some advice on this girl, and I don’t know how to ask her out’. I love writing back to them and I think it’s a really nice thing to be able to do,” she added.
Holly is the face of new Irish fashion jewellery e-boutique, LaurynRose.com, and the website donates 10% of the profit of every sale directly to LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, to help vulnerable Irish children in need.
She explained: “The best thing about this whole campaign, is that 10% of everything bought in the online shop goes to the Laura Lynn Foundation, so that’s really amazing, and something I’m really be proud of being a part of.
“When [the jewellery] arrives to your house it’s really pretty. It comes in a box with a ribbon on it, and when you open it there’s rose petals inside, so it’s really like an actual present for yourself. It’s gorgeous, and the pieces are really timeless as well, so they’re not going to go out of fashion,” she added.
Holly has done a lot of TV appearances, including The Late Late Show and The Saturday Night Show, recently – “I actually love doing TV, it’s a bit of fun, and it’s always kind of exciting, especially when it’s live and stuff. I just find it really fun.”
She previously spent time in London with her friend and fellow model, Jayne Higgins, but Ireland is where she wants to be – for now.
She told U mag: “I’m going to go between the two definitely. I am such a home bird but I’m always in touch with my agency over there. It can be annoying not being based over there because they always say, ‘oh there’s a casting in the morning for this’, and it could be something amazing, but you can’t just go over to London last minute.
“So I’d like to go over in summer and do a solid week of casting, and see what comes of it, because I can actually stay with my agency, they have rooms, so I can stay there, so that’s handy. But I’m definitely staying in Ireland for now,” she added.