Amanda Brunker

{{Short description|Irish model and writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Amanda Brunker''' (born 12 June 1974) is an Irish novelist, journalist and beauty pageant titleholder. She is columnist for the Irish ''[[Sunday World]]'' [[tabloid journalism|tabloid]] newspaper,<ref>sundayworld.com [http://www.sundayworld.com/showbiz/brunker-meets.php Brunker meets...] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107220242/http://www.sundayworld.com/showbiz/brunker-meets.php |date=November 7, 2011 }}</ref> She also won [[Miss Ireland]] 1991.

Brunker grew up in a [[Church of Ireland]] [[Protestant]] family in [[Finglas]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-01-02 |title=The primetime of Ms Brunker |url=https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/the-primetime-of-ms-brunker/26203309.html |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=Independent.ie |language=en}}</ref> After attending [[Mount Temple Comprehensive School]] she turned to [[Model (person)|modelling]], entering and winning the Miss Ireland competition in 1991 when she was 17 years old.<ref>irishexaminer.com [http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1999/08/30/opinion_222.htm Where are they now?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080712212729/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1999/08/30/opinion_222.htm |date=2008-07-12 }}</ref>

==Career== She has continued modelling, acted in the film ''Head Rush'',<ref>IMDb. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339111/ Internet movie database]</ref> had a cameo role on the former Irish soap ''[[Glenroe]]'', been a nightclub hostess and presented her own late night TV show ''The Dinner Party''.<ref>rte.ie [http://www.rte.ie/arts/2004/0728/thedinnerparty.html Amanda Brunker to front new RTE show]</ref>

She also performed at [[Oxegen 2011]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ib3l8Wx45M|title=Amanda Brunker Oxegen 2011|website=youtube.com|publisher=[[RTÉ 2fm]]|date=13 July 2011|accessdate=5 January 2022}}</ref> The decision to give her a prominent slot at the music festival ahead of artists who had released music, as well as her performance on the day, was widely criticised in the music press.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2011-07-09 |title=Brunker's Oxegen debut goes off with a whimper |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30512179.html |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=Irish Examiner |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Amanda Brunker defends her ridiculous Oxegen 2011 slot |url=https://www.joe.ie/uncategorized/amanda-brunker-defends-her-ridiculous-oxegen-2011-slot-25673 |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=JOE.ie |date=7 July 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Review of Amanda Brunker |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/review-of-amanda-brunker-1.879793 |access-date=2023-08-25 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref>

Brunker declined multiple offers from record companies to concentrate on her FETAC 4{{what|date=November 2025}} course.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}.

She was a judge on the third and final season of the [[All Ireland Talent Show]], replacing Boyzone's [[Shane Lynch]] as the Dublin judge.

She published her first novel, entitled ''Champagne Kisses'',<ref>Transworld. [http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/catalog/book.htm?command=Search&db=twmain.txt&eqisbndata=1848270011 Champagne Kisses] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111164451/http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/catalog/book.htm?command=Search&db=twmain.txt&eqisbndata=1848270011 |date=2011-01-11 }}</ref> on 25 June 2008, followed in June 2009 by a sequel, ''Champagne Babes''.

She participated in season 4 of ''[[Celebrity Bainisteoir]]'', managing Aughrim GAA Club, Wicklow.<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/ten/2011/0715/celebritybainisteoir.html "RTÉ's Celebrity Bainisteoirs announced"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817232359/http://www.rte.ie/ten/2011/0715/celebritybainisteoir.html |date=2011-08-17 }}. ''RTÉ Ten''. 15 July 2011.</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * Amanda's [https://web.archive.org/web/20080423034051/http://www.sundayworld.com/columnists.asp?colID=24 column] in the ''[[Sunday World]]''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunker, Amanda}} [[Category:1974 births]] [[Category:People educated at Mount Temple Comprehensive School]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Irish female models]] [[Category:21st-century Irish women journalists]] [[Category:Journalists from Dublin (city)]] [[Category:Miss Ireland winners]] [[Category:Miss World 1991 delegates]] [[Category:Models from Dublin (city)]] [[Category:Writers from Dublin (city)]] [[Category:Beauty pageant contestants from Ireland]] [[Category:20th-century Irish people]] [[Category:21st-century Irish people]]