Olympic gold medalist Kellie Harrington reveals her decision to stay amateur

In a candid interview with The Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy who chatted with her as he drove her to a friend’s wedding on a Friday, the Dublin boxer revealed that she will retain her amateur status.

"I’ve made the decision I’m going to stay amateur,” she said en route to the nuptials of her friends George and Ellie in Co Meath.

"You know what Ryan? It's not always about money.”

Asked about the fortune she could earn as a professional boxer, she responded: “That’s what people are saying, ‘you can make a fortune out of this, you can go for this fight, you can go for that fight, what have you.’

"But I just want to be amateur. I’m very happy. I’m supported by Sport Ireland and I have a great time there with the set up, you know?”

When he asked if she would turn offers to make €500,000 per fight, she responded: “They’ll have half of my half a million,” she said of promoters.

"Less stress, more success,” she added.

She also revealed how she loves her job as a cleaner at a hospital – especially during the darkest days of the pandemic when she was able to give patients a lift by chatting to them during her shift.

"I absolutely love them in there,” she said of the patients.

"When I go in there, this is an out of body experience. I become someone different, I become a show woman when I turn up for work,” she said.

The usual setting for the interview was a compromise as Kellie said she was already committed to attending the wedding and couldn’t appear on the programme in the usual studio format.

Tonight’s Late Late Show marks the first time the programme was filmed in front of a socially distanced live audience since the start of the pandemic.