Maura Derrane shares painful aftermath of suspected insect bite that ‘blew up’

The RTÉ star posted a picture on Instagram showing how she had noticed the red mark on her ankle on the morning of Tuesday, May 9.

However, she revealed how the following day the mark on her leg "literally blew up".

Posting a picture of her ankle on the social media platform, Maura said that even with antibiotics the bite is still “really sore and painful” and “not very attractive”.

"But even with the antibiotic, the wound is still really sore and painful, and as you can see it’s not very attractive,” she shared.

“This is my leg five days after getting, what the Doctor thinks is an insect bite. I now think it may be a spider bite. I noticed a red mark last Tuesday morning but thought little of it.

“By the time I went to work on Wednesday, my leg had literally blown up. Thankfully @dr.doireannoleary took a look at it, and put me on an antibiotic immediately

“But even with the antibiotic, the wound is still really sore and painful, and as you can see it’s not very attractive!! I just want to warn everyone out there not to ignore an insect bite as it can become really serious very quickly, especially a spider bite.”

Last year, Derrane (52) revealed how she had to cut her partying days or she would “be fired” from her TV job.

Opening up about her ‘wild side’ to The Sunday Times, she confessed she once went on air so hungover she “could barely read the autocue or see who was in front of me”.

Before her current gig hosting the Today Show alongside Daithí Ó Sé, Galway-born Maura presented Ireland AM with Mark Cagney.

Those days – from 2004 to 2006 – she admitted were particularly wild.

"Oh, there’s a lot of wildness there. There are horns growing out of my head and I’m always pushing them down and putting sticking plasters over them,” she said.

"I love going out, but have to try to keep a lid on it, as the problem is that if I go out, I just don’t want to come home."

One night, the star socialised alongside a manager who warned her to call it a night.

"I went to everything I was invited to at first, but one night, my boss, Andrew Hanlon, was there too.

"He was seriously vibing me at 11.30pm when I was getting into my millionth gin and tonic, and asked me why I was still there when I was on air in the morning? I said I’d be fine but he said I wouldn’t and needed to go home.

"I looked like the wreck of the Hesperus. I was like a dead thing and could barely read the autocue or see who was in front of me,” she told The Sunday Times.

"And, of course, I had Mr Mark Cagney beside me, who went to bed every night at eight o’clock. So I was forced to catch myself on and cut out the midweek socialising. It was that or be fired."

Maura has always been candid about her partying days, previously telling independent.ie that her arrival in Dublin from Inis Mór was like “the Amish on their year off.”

"We'd have been sacked if there were camera phones back then," Maura said.

"We were uncouth; we were like wild beasts. We didn't know how to pose for a photo, we were only there at events for the free booze. You're judged now on appearance rather than personality.

"There were plenty of girls who weren't the best looking, but they were the craic (sic). They were exciting and they could hold an audience.

"It's like John B Keane or something - if you could hold an audience and be the craic, that was enough. You were allowed individuality,” she said.

Maura is married to former Fine Gael John Deasy and they have a young son, Cal (8).