Elaine Crowley 'crippled with grief' months after mum Mary V's death

The Virgin Media star sadly lost her mum, who was well-known to fans of Elaine’s eponymous chat show, to cancer in November.

The 44-year-old opened up about how life has been since Mary V died and admitted that she feels “so lucky” to have spent so much time with her while she was sick.

“I’m crippled with grief that my mother’s gone half the time but I’m so thankful that we did have that time with her,” she told RSVP Magazine.

“If I wasn’t working, I was down in Cork with her and I wouldn’t swap that for the universe. I was so lucky we had that time together.

“Mam would have wanted me to look on the bright side of everything, and there are pluses. We had such fun in the last year, you can’t imagine. I know it sounds grim, but we had such a laugh as well as the sad moments and she passed away very peacefully.”

Elaine said that she’s thankful that her mum got to have a proper funeral, unlike the many Irish families over the last two years who “couldn't say a proper goodbye to their loved ones” due to Covid restrictions.

“I miss her, but I’m thankful that I didn't have the experience a lot of Irish people have had over the pandemic,” she explained.

“That’s the cruellest thing of all out of this entire thing. People are talking about children and masks, but for people who couldn’t say a proper goodbye to their loved ones… that’s a wound that won’t heal for a lot of people.

“My heart breaks for families who had funerals during lockdown with ten people at it and didn’t get to say goodbye to their loved ones.”