*Isabella Sydney at her home in Ennis. Photograph: Natasha Barton
ISABELLA SYDNEY is still on a high following her unforgettable appearance on The Late Late Toy Show.
Friday night’s Late Late Toy Show on RTÉ was one of the most watched programmes on a single channel on record in Ireland. It drew an average audience of 1.56 million on the night, representing 81% of the available audience. The Toy Show Appeal also reached the heights it set in its first year in 2020, raising €6.6m, €1.1m of that was donated by Revolut co-founder Vlad Yatsenko. Pupils of Ennis CBS on Tuesday presented Isabella with a cheque of €1,200 for the Toy Show Appeal.
Ennis’ very own Isabella Sydney managed to win over the hearts of the nation when she made her appearance in the final part of the show presented by Ryan Tubridy. Such is the impression she made that the RTÉ presenter in his only post about the Toy Show on Instagram shared a picture of him interviewing the Clare native.
She was born with a very rare condition called Lumbosacral Agenesis from birth which necessitates her using a wheelchair as her legs were amputated at the age of 7. Her love of art and fashion was discussed during her engage with Tubridy and she was left shocked when he announced that the Sydney and Mulvey family would be heading to Paris in a trip sponsored by Aer Lingus that would also included stops at the Louvre and Disneyland.
Speaking to The Clare Echo on Tuesday morning, Isabella admitted that she was still on cloud nine following the excitement of appearing on one of the country’s most watched television shows. While the Mulvey and Sydney families have been busy fielding calls of congratulations and well wishes via text.
Bed-time has become more lenient in the days that followed, her mother Clare who as reported in last week’s Clare Echo was the county and provincial carer of the year. “She got up at half one on Sunday, half one in the day, I went in to check if she was alright, she was breathing heavy and I said ‘oh my God she is still out for the count’ and I woke her then because we were going over to my sister’s house to watch her little part together with my aunty Rita. It’s been a good few days, we’re exhausted”.
Any nerves or doubts were put to ease by Tubridy during the 3pm rehearsal on Friday, Isabella recalled. “I was really nervous going into rehearsals but then I met Ryan and he was lovely, I felt reassured”. Appearing towards the end of the show also helped to calm the nerves while watching alongside her mother in their own dressing room as her father Darum and twin-brother AJ watched from the hotel, “I feel like getting to watch everyone else calmed me down a bit”.
“It kept us calm, we watched the show inside on the TV and it was nice. I wasn’t one bit nervous, I knew she would be fine, when she met him in rehearsals he wound her up to the last, they got on great and I knew she would be fine, he was so good I thought, if there was an awkward silence he’d fill it,” Clare agreed.
There was no mention of the surprise trip to France in the rehearsal, mind. “I was really shocked and surprised that I was going. I’m looking forward to seeing the Eiffel Tower at night-time because there is meant to be a lights show and it is really cool”. Her twin-brother AJ is more looking forward to going to Disneyland and possibly seeing Kylian Mbappé in action for Paris Saint-Germain.
Aunty Mairead was given special mention during the Toy Show, “Yes, we go shopping together and stuff,” Isabella said while admitting she is spoilt by her aunt. It must be an aunty trait with the Mulveys as Clare noted it was the same with her growing up and her aunt Rita Murnane. “She spoilt all of us growing up. She used to take us for the weekend, she would take us on a Friday evening until Sundays, she’s a brilliant woman”.
Indeed it was Mairead that assisted with the application as Isabella submitted a video of her making slime before getting called to an audition where she made yet another positive impression.
That the Lion King was the theme for the show also had sentimental value for the family. “We went to see the show in Disneyland in Florida, Isabella and Darum got up as part of the show to walk around, they invited people up to walk around. The Lion King is Mairead’s favourite so she was bursting with excitement. On my first anniversary with my husband, it was the first show we went to see in London, it has a nice connection with the family,” Clare recalled.
Huge support from Isabella and AJ’s classmates at Ennis CBS was clear to see and hear both before and after the show, Clare outlined, “we drove in around the school last week, they were all outside with banners last week and they were screaming, you could have heard it up town it was so loud, the craters were out in the rain, they were roaring and screaming with the excitement”. Isabella added, “We had to go around four times. I loved it”.
Even Ed Sheeran couldn’t take Clare’s attention from her beloved Bella backstage following the show. “She was being presented with these izzy wheels and Chris Judge had sent her two illustrations so we were looking at them, Ed walked past us but I was so caught up with her. I was so excited and focused on my star”.
“It couldn’t have got any better, it was really exciting, it made me really happy to read all the nice comments. It was amazing,” Isabella said of her experience. She credits her Nan in England for her love of fashion who altered all her clothes and worked as seamstress but it is potentially her grandfather on the other side, Tony Mulvey the renown ex Clare Champion journalist that she may follow when it comes to her career path, “I would hope to work in either fashion or as an author or journalist,” the twelve year old said.
