There was nowhere quite like home, she told the room.
At Dublin's Convention Centre on a spring evening, the Gossies Awards gathered Ireland's entertainment world to celebrate style and presence — and Maura Higgins, fresh from days of serious illness she had only just survived, arrived in a custom gown and left with two trophies. The evening was a reminder that public life asks its participants to perform wholeness even when wholeness has only recently been reassembled, and that sometimes the most remarkable thing about a celebrated entrance is what it quietly overcame to happen at all.
- Just seventy-two hours before the red carpet, Higgins was bedridden with a mystery illness so severe she lost a stone in weight and treated a simple shower as a milestone worth sharing online.
- The seventh annual Gossies Awards drew Dublin's celebrity world to the Convention Centre, raising the stakes for anyone hoping to make an impression on one of Ireland's most-watched style occasions.
- Faye Winter and Teddy Soares arrived as a polished pair, her lilac mesh gown drawing attention while he stepped back — two former Love Island contestants navigating the transition from reality television to enduring public presence.
- Higgins claimed both Best Female TV Presenter and Most Stylish Lady, telling the crowd there was nowhere quite like home — a line made heavier by how close she had come to not being there at all.
- The evening landed not as a simple awards night but as an unspoken testament to the invisible labour of showing up: radiant, composed, and performing celebration while the memory of illness was barely days old.
The Gossies Awards brought Dublin's entertainment world to the Convention Centre on a spring evening, and Maura Higgins made the kind of entrance the night was built for. She arrived in a custom black backless gown by designer Celia Kritharioti — floor-length, silver-threaded, and precisely calibrated between effort and ease. Her dark hair was swept into a high, loosely constructed updo, and the overall effect was polished without being laboured.
Faye Winter attended alongside boyfriend Teddy Soares, who wore a simple black suit that allowed her lilac mesh gown to carry the moment. Her hair fell in soft waves past her shoulders. Together, the two former Love Island contestants brought the kind of recognisable star power the seventh annual Gossies — Ireland's celebration of celebrity and style — had come to expect from its red carpet.
The evening's honours fell heavily in Higgins' direction. She collected two awards: Best Female TV Presenter and Most Stylish Lady. Accepting them, she told the room there was nowhere quite like home. It was the sort of thing winners say, but the words carried more weight than usual.
Days before the ceremony, Higgins had been confined to bed with an illness she described as the worst of her life. For three days she barely moved, lost a stone in weight, and posted on social media about finally managing a shower as though it were a genuine achievement — because, given the circumstances, it was. She asked her followers what they ate when cooking felt impossible, living on cereal while her body slowly began to cooperate. When she made pancakes, she knew she was turning a corner.
The distance between that bedridden version of herself and the woman accepting awards at the Convention Centre just days later was the quiet undercurrent of the whole evening. Higgins had not simply recovered — she had recovered fast enough to show up fully, dressed impeccably, and perform the role of celebrated public figure without visible seams. What the night offered, beyond the trophies and the gowns, was the image of someone who had been genuinely knocked down and had, at least for one evening, come all the way back.
The Gossies Awards brought Dublin's entertainment world to the Convention Centre on a spring evening, and two of Ireland's most recognizable faces from Love Island made their presence felt on the red carpet. Maura Higgins, thirty-one, arrived in a custom black gown designed by Celia Kritharioti, the fabric falling floor-length and backless, with silver threading that caught the light as it traced down her spine. Her dark hair was swept into a high, deliberately undone updo, and a fringe framed her face above carefully applied makeup. The look was polished but not precious—the kind of thing that photographs well and feels effortless, which is rarely the case.
Faye Winter, twenty-six, came with her boyfriend Teddy Soares, who wore a straightforward black suit that let her take the visual focus. She had chosen a lilac mesh gown that fell to the floor, its construction intricate enough to demand attention without shouting for it. Her hair fell in soft waves past her shoulders. Together, the two former islanders represented the kind of star power that the seventh iteration of the Gossies Awards—an annual celebration of Irish celebrity and style—had come to expect.
The evening belonged to Higgins in particular. She left the event with two awards: Best Female TV Presenter and Most Stylish Lady. When she took the stage to collect them, she spoke briefly about what it meant to be back in Ireland, telling the crowd there was nowhere quite like home. It was a simple sentiment, the kind of thing winners say, but it carried particular weight given what had preceded the night.
Just days before the awards, Higgins had been confined to bed with an illness she described as the worst she had ever experienced. For three full days she did not leave her bedroom. The physical toll was visible in the numbers: she lost a stone in weight during those days of barely eating. When she finally had enough energy to shower, she posted about it on social media as though it were a small victory, which, in the context of how sick she had been, it was. She shared that she had been living on cereal, asking her followers what they ate when cooking felt impossible, a question that resonated with anyone who had ever been too unwell to manage anything more complex than pouring milk over grain.
By the time she made pancakes, Higgins knew she was turning a corner. She documented this small act of self-care for her followers, a sign that her body was beginning to cooperate again. The mystery illness—she never specified what it was—had knocked her down hard enough that simply being vertical and dressed and out in public felt like an accomplishment. Yet there she was at the Convention Centre, collected and radiant, accepting awards and speaking to a room full of people.
The contrast between the bedridden version of herself from seventy-two hours earlier and the woman on that stage was the real story of the evening. Higgins had not simply recovered; she had recovered fast enough to show up, to dress impeccably, to perform the role of celebrated television personality. Whether that spoke to her resilience or to the demands placed on public figures who cannot simply disappear when their bodies fail them was a question the evening did not ask. What it showed instead was a woman who had been very ill and was now, at least for one night, very much back.
Notable Quotes
There is no place like Ireland, and it is great to be home.— Maura Higgins, accepting her awards
I don't think I have ever been so unwell.— Maura Higgins, describing her recent illness on social media
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What strikes you most about Maura showing up at all, given how sick she'd been?
The speed of it. Three days in bed, barely eating, and then she's in a custom gown accepting awards. Most people would have cancelled. She didn't.
Do you think she felt pressure to be there?
Almost certainly. You don't lose a stone and spend seventy-two hours unable to leave bed and then just bounce back because you feel like it. Something—obligation, maybe, or the machinery of being a public figure—pulled her out.
She posted about the cereal, the pancakes, the shower. Why share those details?
Because when you're that sick, those things matter. They're proof you're coming back. And her followers understood that language—the small victories.
Did the awards themselves feel earned, or did they feel like she was collecting them while still recovering?
Both, probably. She'd done the work to deserve them. But the body doesn't care about what you've earned. It just knows it was very unwell forty-eight hours ago.