Majella O'Donnell

Majella O’Donnell (née Roche) was born on 14 April 1961 in Thurles, County Tipperary, and works as a singer, businesswoman, and charity campaigner. She first became widely known after getting engaged to the singer Daniel O’Donnell. Having survived breast cancer, she has also fundraised for the Irish Cancer Society.

Her parents, Tom and Marion Roche, raised her in Thurles. The family ran a bar in Tenerife. She was first married to Raymond McLennan, a marriage that was later annulled, and they had two children together. Until her second wedding, she used the surname McLennan. She met Daniel O’Donnell in October 1999 in Tenerife, and they married on 4 November 2002.

In 2015, she and her husband created the RTÉ travel series *Daniel and Majella’s B&B Road Trip*. She has appeared as a guest on *The Late Late Show* (RTÉ One), *Loose Women* (ITV1), and *Angela Scanlon’s Ask Me Anything* (RTÉ 2). Her two albums are *At Last* (2006) and *...By Request* (2010). She also sang a duet with her husband on his PBS special “Can You Feel The Love”. According to Daniel O’Donnell, she has been asked to take part in *Dancing with the Stars*. Active on Twitter, she has spoken out about Eamonn Holmes’s actions after Phillip Schofield left ITV, and about the publicity surrounding the unfounded investigation into family friend Cliff Richard.

In 2013, O’Donnell revealed she was fighting breast cancer. After starting chemotherapy, she had her head shaved live on *The Late Late Show* to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society, bringing in more than €300,000. She later had a double mastectomy.

She and her husband live in Meenbannad, County Donegal, and also spend time at a second home in Tenerife. She has three grandchildren. O’Donnell has discussed her struggles with depression and says she turns to art to cope when she feels overwhelmed.

**Discography** *At Last* (2006) *...By Request* (2010)

**Bibliography** *It’s All in the Head* (2015, Simon & Schuster UK, ISBN 978-1471138959)