Dermot O’Leary “very friendly” during visit to Derry, say bakery staff

“He was very, very friendly, he chatted away, and he explained that he was in the North West filming a new series”

Television presenter and broadcaster Dermot O’Leary was said to be “very friendly” during a recent trip to Derry.

The X-Factor and This Morning presenter called in to the Bakery Ebrington in the Waterside area of the city earlier this week, after spending some time in neighbouring Donegal to film a new TV series.

Ann Marie McMenamin, who works in the bakery, said he spent some time interacting with customers and graciously took selfies with both customers and staff during his visit.

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The presenter, who spent his childhood summers in Ireland, revealed to staff at the Bakery Ebrington that he has been filming a new series.

The first series of Dermot O’Leary’s Taste of Ireland was broadcast on ITV last year and featured Wexford, Dublin, Kinsale, Cork and Belfast.

His new series seems likely to see him take in the best of the food and drink on offer in Donegal and Derry.

Ann Marie told Belfast Live: “He came in for a bit of lunch, him and his production team, just for a takeaway. He interacted with customers, took selfies with customers and selfies with the staff, and then wanted the group photo with the staff as well.”

She continued: “He was very, very friendly, he chatted away, and he explained that he was in the North West filming a new series. It’s a food programme he’s doing.”

She added: “He was in Donegal on the Monday and Tuesday, and then he was in Derry then on Wednesday.”

The Ebrington bakery is just one of a host of businesses that’s cropped up at the redeveloped former Ebrington military barracks in Derry’s Waterside.

“We’re here just over three years,” Ann Marie said. “Ebrington is an up-and-coming area of the city, it’s really an extension of the city they’re classing it as now, you know, that it is part of the city.

“We get regular customers as well as tourists andwe are very busy. We make everything from scratch. We’re a bakery, hot food deli, you know, salads daily so we do a bit of everything.”

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