When you hear the name Leanne Moore I bet the word's 'You're A Star' come to mind, and that's exactly what she is... a star. The talented singer came onto our TV screens back in 2008 and went on to win the last ever You're A Star competition. She's now broken into the Media world and is starting to climb the same ladders as Ireland's greats such as Ryan Turbirdy and Miriam O'Callaghan. You will soon see that there are no limits to Leanne's capabilities, no insincerity in her personality and no dreams she won't pursue.
On meeting Leanne I am pleasantly surprised to see how both her work ethic and overall outlook on life is not the norm for most stars trying to make it into show-business. It's unbelievable how down to earth she is after all the success she has had and is still having. She admits to me although she really likes getting dolled up for events she loves just relaxing and being her true self. And Although the natural beautiful Limerick girl looks hugely confident she admits to me straight away that she used to be really shy. Like most aspiring stars she dabbled in acting, singing and dancing. She began her performing life with Limerick Expressive Arts, Frontline Stage School and in Ritchie Ryan's Acting classes, but even though her talent was growing Leanne still couldn't see her true abilities: "I quit everything in my late teens, I was just too shy, I had no belief in my self"
But finally stardom came knocking at Leanne's door, at the age of 23, when she was working in a secondary school ,teaching English and Religion. The then seriously shy Leanne didn't know how much her life was going to change the day her sister signed her up for You're A Star as a surprise, with Leanne only finding out on the day of the audition that she had to sing in front of the judges. But as surprised as she was to be in the competition, let alone go on to win it, she completely believes in fate: "I'm a great believer that everything happens for a reason and I think I wasn't meant to be a teacher, maybe I was going down the wrong route".
After winning the competition Leanne definitely started on the route she was destined to take:"life took on a kind of snowball effect, everything changed completely, and for a long time I didn't know if I wanted that change or not". She was cast almost immediately in the West End Production of Sleeping Beauty alongside 'Todd' from Coronation Street, but her dreams were dashed when the show had to be pulled due to monetary problems. So another knock to Leanne's confidence had come, but speaking to her now you can tell that she is a fighter.Unlike many celeb's Leanne tells me she put herself through her undergraduate degree in Secondary School teaching in Mary Immaculate College Limerick and refused to give up on her career after You're a star ended.
Thanks to Leanne's talent and determination to succeed she landed the lead in Cinderella, Jack And TheBeanstalk , The Vagina Monologue and several pantomimes in Dublin. She also reveals that she got to the top four auditioning for the role of Sandy in the West End production of Grease,. It's obvious her talent is over-whelming. But interestingly enough, Leanne admits to me that she came to a junction in her life where she had to decide between a life on stage in London or a life back home in Ireland, and her heart told her to return to her family.
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( Leanne in the production of Jack And The Beanstalk)
Since planting herself back in Ireland Leanne has hit the showbiz industry hard. Only a few months ago the beautiful singer was back on our screens again for the Eurosong competition, where the public had to vote for the best act to go through for the Eurovision contest. Leanne nailed her song and performance and made it into the top five but lost out gracefully to singer Niamh Kavanagh, and in her usual optimistic way, Leanne said the experience of meeting Niamh alone was special to her: "I absolutely adore Niamh Kavanagh. I love her because she won the Eurovision the year my mother died, it was the first year we watched the contest without our mum and I will never forget that experience. For her to then win it in Ireland, the song melted into my brain now. My highlight of Eurosong was getting to meet her."
(Leanne at the Eurosong contest 2010)
Not only can Leanne sing, act and dance, no no no, she's also been bitten by the media bug. She now hosts The Big Saturday Show with former Big Brother contestant Ray Shah and writes mainly Showbiz articles for the Irish News Of The World (yes, I don't think she ever gets to sleep!) And it's clear that Leanne loves every single part of her life, she admits she would have worked from the bottom scale of things for radio presenters and journalists if she had to, she was just yearning for the experience and knew where she wanted to go.
One thing that truly inspires me about Leanne is her incredible work ethic that she has stuck to all her life, she one hundred percent believes that you must work as hard as possible in order to succeed. Even in her earlier years Leanne put herself through her Undergraduate Degree in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. And even though now she has two amazing jobs, she admits she wanted to prove to everyone that she has earned her positions and it wasn't just her name that got her in the media door: "I never stop working. It's the only way to go. I'm in this business now and I fully intend to stay in it. The reason I left Limerick and moved to Dublin was to be at the centre of it all. I have looked at the lives of people like Amanda Brunker and I admire her so much, she's been writing for the Sunday World for ten years and she is only being noticed for her hard work now."
(Leanne with 2009 X-Factor runner up Olly Murs on The Big Saturday Show - at Dublin's Q102)
It's crystal clear that Leanne's focus is so concentrated on building a career for herself, doing her name justice and achieving all her dreams. She is in no way disillusioned with the price of fame, the price of being an Irish celebrity and the overall price of being in the limelight, she knows it doesn't come easy. But I think that's what she loves about show business, for her, it's a constant challenge: "People don't understand, they imagine I walked into these positions with my airs and graces but I am a very real person. So when I went in to Dublin's Q102 and The Irish News Of The World I would never have expected to be given a job straight away, I know that people knew who I was and that probably helped me but the bottom line is I would have just made tea had they wanted me to".
In recessionary times like this it's morals like Leanne's that stand to a person, she even quotes TheApprentice Boss Bill Cullen who said that the best thing to do in these times is to work for nothing, and basically show your employer what you are made of, and she wholly believes in that attitude also. It's so refreshing to meet a star that doesn't want anything handed to them. You see so many Celebs that have come from reality shows, singing competitions and they don't try to further themselves whatsoever, whereas Leanne is currently doing a Masters in Broadcast Journalism, in the middle of all her other duties, which on top of her showbiz work also involves the I Love Limerick team where she interviews and spends time with the people of Limerick, showcasing local talent and dealing with local issues. Most recently Leanne hosted the Mr.Limerick contest in The Strand Hotel, Limerick, so she is always close to home. Leanne makes her family and friends her priority and always will.
(Leanne with Louis Walsh at the launch party for the new Irish girldband Wonderland)
There is not one bad bone is this girl's body, she is a prime example of someone who deserves the life they have. All her work over the years has finally paid off for Leanne and yet she is constantly trying to better herself, and I know she will. The multi-talented star has been back in the recording studio also and hopes to work on her new album next January, and in new project of hers, she is half way through writing her first novel which is sure to be a smash hit. It's clear that her love of English at an early age has blossomed an amazing creativity in Leanne that has a lot more left to give.
For anyone who dreams of being a singer, an actress, a presenter, a journalist, you can't help but idolize this shy girl from Limerick who became a star overnight and yet constantly exceeds her abilities, follows her dreams and explores all possibilities in life.
Due to her phenomenal talents, work ethic and all around star quality, I can't tell you where she is going to be in five years, what she will have accomplished and what she will be doing, but I can tell you this much... we haven't seen the last of Leanne Moore.
Check out her website by clicking HERE and follow her on twitter HERE , if you can keep up with her :)
Check out her website by clicking HERE and follow her on twitter HERE , if you can keep up with her :)
Missed out on my September Star Of The Month? It was Miss United Nations Ireland Samantha Long check it out HERE
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