RTE star Donal Skehan has weighed in on his Eurovision spat with 90s pop star Samantha Mumba.
The Irish chef was a part of the judging panel at this year’s Eurosong contest alongside Arthur Gourounlian, Laura Fox and last year’s Eurovision entry, Bambie Thug.
After pop star Samantha Mumba lost out on the chance to represent Ireland at May’s Eurovision she hit out at the judging panel.
The Gotta Tell You hitmaker had claimed the panel weren’t “factually qualified for the job”.
She later referred to the panel as “bozos”, prompting Donal to post a picture of himself labelled “bozo”.
Samantha ended her Insta rage with a rude jibe, using the aubergine emoji.
She said: “My parting gift to them is a bag of [aubergine emoji] to slowly choke on. (Would have said this in person but they all left the green room before I had the opportunity to) Unsurprisingly.”
One month on from the online controversy, Donal has shared his honest opinion on the situation.
The dad-of-two told the RTE Guide: “Look I was asked to do a job, I’m a huge Eurovision fan and anyone who follows me will know, that not only was I an entrant with the band I was in but I’m frequently at the Eurovision.
“It’s a really heightened competition and I understand the hurt that comes from it, so I really do feel for anyone who didn’t win.”
The popular presenter admitted that the Eurosong spat “took on a life of its own at the time.”
He joked: “It was a truly Irish storm in a teacup.”
At the time of the drama, eagle-eyed fans spotted the “brilliant” hit back move Donal made at Samantha.
Donal hilariously changed his Instagram name to include the aubergine emoji, which Samantha had used in her rant.
The 38-year-old also shared some aubergine recipes on his Instagram Stories with one of Sweden‘s Eurovision hopefuls Klara Hammarström’s song, On and On and On, in the background.
CHEEKY RESPONSE
He said: “Now back to our regular content! Discover the delicious versatility of aubergines!! Tap on for some mouthwatering recipes to keep you going!”
And fans were left in stitches at the latest jab as one TikTok user, Holli, shared a screenshot of Donal’s page and said: “I need someone to tell me if Donal Skehan has always had Donal and the aubergine in his bio or if this is a response to Samantha Mumba too.”
Another user replied: “I can confirm that the Donal […] in his bio is new!”
Holli added: “Hahaha he’s been good with the responses in fairness, sharing loads of aubergine recipes today.”
