She is fierce. She is strong. She is driven and embraces every opportunity with confidence. She is Maura Higgins, one of the UK’s favourite television personalities. With the launch of her latest collection with Oh Polly and her debut as the face of MAC Cosmetics’ ‘I Only Wear MAC’ campaign, Maura Higgins breaks through another arena of influence in a full-circle moment.
“The looks were very different from me.” Maura Higgins gushes over the photos from her Noctis cover shoot, aligned with her current ethos of mixing it up, saying yes to new things, “I never really stick to one style. I love to change things up, I’m not afraid to take a risk when it comes to fashion and beauty” she speaks on her current experimentation era.
LEFT – Jacket and Shirt – Kristine Dzene // Bra – Scarlett Gasque at POP PR // Earrings – Frou York at POP PR // Glasses and Ring – Stylist’s Own
RIGHT – Jacket – Mila Nikcevic // Bralette – Cult Naked at Lobby PR // Necklace – Frou York at POP PR
Alongside the power of a manifestation board, Higgins’ triumphs are an ode to her relatable, witty character, which people have fallen in love with during her appearance on Love Island UK in 2019. Since then, with complete determination and deserved efforts, Higgins has kept the momentum of making television history.
To list a few, she was the first Islander to cross the Atlantic to pursue a career in presenting on Love Island USA by becoming the first-ever host of the US show’s Aftersun. While at home, late last year, Maura Higgins entered the jungle for ITV’s flagship entertainment show ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here,’ as the most anticipated late entry in the show’s history.
A few days after her meet-and-greet MAC event in Dublin, Maura Higgins shares how she ‘jumped at the opportunity’ to being asked to be the new face of a MAC campaign: “They have been absolutely incredible to work for, a real pinch me moment working with them because I’ve used MAC, God, as long as I can remember. I think they might have been the first makeup brand I’ve ever bought. It’s a full-circle moment.”
“I think if someone told me when I was younger, you’re going to do a MAC campaign, I wouldn’t have believed it,” with a massive smile on her face, Maura Higgins is still in disbelief over such a career milestone. Speaking of makeup, we must ask what her favourite lip combo is now. She answers immediately, but the lip liner shade represents much more than a colour on her lips: “Every time I have a different shade or colour on me, I don’t feel like myself. MAC Spice all the way. I don’t mind if it’s a different shade of lipstick in the middle, but I feel super confident once I have my Spice on.”
LEFT – Bodysuit – Mitiliane Couture at POP PR // Earrings – LAG World at Limitee PR
RIGHT – Corset and Underwear – Elissa Poppy at The 223 Agency // Coat – Stylist’s Own
Higgins started off the new year with a beauty campaign but ended the previous one as an I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here contestant. Knowing the extent of bravery, it takes for anyone to be up for such an intense and challenging test of one’s limits, for Maura Higgins, it was a step outside of her comfort zone she was ready to take:
Whenever I thought about the show, I always felt that nervous feeling in my belly. I really never thought that I’d ever have the courage to do it, but last year was all about stepping out of my comfort zone in my career. I did my very first podcast that year as well, where I opened up. That’s something that I really struggled with. And I just thought, I’m going to push myself.
Not knowing what she could expect as a late entry, she felt petrified, but having come through on the other side, she is filled with gratitude and pride that she’s done it: “I still cannot believe that I did it, and I embraced it, and I smiled the whole way through. Even when the hunger got so much and the migraines from the lack of sugar and caffeine and those days when you just didn’t have the energy, I just embraced it”, she reflects.
The one constant in the jungle mayhem was the power of unity; she tributes: “I really loved every single part of it, and the campmates were so amazing; I felt so lucky to be a part of that year’s cast because there were no arguments, and nobody was fighting. We all just pulled together and helped each other out on days when we weren’t feeling our best. It was personally a wonderful experience. ”
Coat – Kristine Dzene // Earrings – LAG World at Limitee PR // Tie, Short, Tights – Stylist’s Own
During an eating trial, Higgins had to conquer delicacies such as blended fermented herring, pig’s eyeballs, cockroaches, and goat’s testicles. It’s like that viral TikTok trend, I wonder what goes on inside of their head; she repeats the pep talk for us:
Maura, you promised yourself that you will give it your all. So you need to do this. You can’t back out. Because I know what I’m like. If I wasn’t to do that eating trial and I backed out of it I would have never forgotten it. I would have been so disappointed in myself.
With a buffet on the line, Higgins chose the selfless route, the camp’s needs over hers: “I think I went into fight or flight. I just thought, Maura, everyone’s hungry, you ate their food, you removed a bed from their main camp, you have to give a little bit back now and get that buffet for them. I really think at the moment I was thinking of them “. Though this trial wasn’t her Achilles heel, she adds: “I would do an eating trial over and over and over again. That trial with the spiders, I never felt fright like that in all of my life. I would rather eat anything than to do that again.”
An experience like being thrown into the tropical Australian jungle, where you are meant to face your fears head-on, Higgins shares what she took away from the spider-cage trial turmoil: “I was battling with my brain, I was like, Maura, you can do it. No, I can’t. Yes, you can. No, I can’t. It was a fight, and the fact that I did it, I really learned, you can do anything that you put your mind to.”
LEFT – Bag, Jacket and Shorts – Mila Nikcevic // Bralette – Cult Naked at Lobby PR // Necklace – Frou York at POP PR
RIGHT – Bodysuit – Mitiliane Couture at POP PR // Earrings – LAG World at Limitee PR
Before stepping into the gates of reality TV, Maura Higgins had always been courageous, up for a challenge, and determined to push to achieve her career dreams. Back then, it was to be a hairstylist. She elaborates: “I always wanted to be a hairstylist, and I ended up leaving school early, and I ended up doing that. Then once I did it and I did it for years and years, I got fully qualified. Later, I wanted more, and I thought, okay, I’m moving on.”
Even on her first trial day at a hair salon, Higgins did not shy away from the challenge of cutting very long hair into a graduated bob; she was confident enough to wing it. Ultimately, the customer loved it, so she tipped her and got the job. She admits she always had this inner confidence and determination by her side: “If I didn’t have that confidence, I probably wouldn’t have gone in and done that. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to even put scissors near that girl’s hair because I’d be thinking oh my god, what if I ruin it? But no, I always had that confidence and I guess in the back of my head I always thought you can do it if you just put your mind to it.”
Since her early days in the Love Island villa, women around the nation were in awe of how authentic Maura Higgins was. Take notes for everyone aspiring to be in the public eye:
I’d definitely say, be yourself. You can look up to so many people in the public eye, but I think your power is that there’s only one of you. Being authentic about who you are is what’s really going to shine.
Coat – Kristine Dzene // Earrings – LAG World at Limitee PR // Tie, Short, Tights – Stylist’s Own
Adding to Higgins’ list of conquered challenges is taking her likeable aura across the pond as the digital host of Love Island USA. Once again, she manifested it: “I really was not expecting that, and I had only put Love Island USA on my manifestation board about a month before I got the call.,” she continues, “then going from The Social Ambassador to hosting The After Sun, I mean, I feel so hugely grateful, and I still sit there at times and think how on earth have I got here like and why me of all people? I’m still just that little girl from the middle of Ireland.”
This is where Maura Higgins pulls through. This is where she shows her talents to connect, charm, and put on an entertaining show. The role of a host is to make people comfortable, be able to respond, and improv spontaneously. Speaking about this accomplishment, Maura Higgins feels chuffed:
Love Island is always going to be a dream job for me. Love Island got me to where I am today, and I’m hugely grateful.
“With Aftersun, I feel like being thrown into the deep end like that will only make me better, and I hope someday I can be as big as some of the most incredible hosts out there like we have in the UK and US.”
“I feel like it puts the contestants at ease because they know that we can bond over that,” she says, how being an ex-contestant puts her in a great position with the Islanders. “The producer in my ear might be saying, maybe ask this, or ask this, but I’m literally asking what I want to ask half the time. I’m so eager to ask the questions and get this information for myself, as well as the viewers watching.”
LEFT – Bag, Jacket and Shorts – Mila Nikcevic // Bralette – Cult Naked at Lobby PR // Necklace – Frou York at POP PR
RIGHT – Jacket and Shirt – Kristine Dzene // Bra – Scarlett Gasque at POP PR // Earrings – Frou York at POP PR // Glasses and Ring – Stylist’s Own
Continuing to invest in herself, Maura Higgins prides herself on authenticity, and she shines the brightest when given space and trust to do so. Revealing the ins and outs of wearing the hosting hat, she says:
I never really stick to the script, I always put in my own little thing, because I feel like it feels more authentic to me, and that’s the one main thing that I want to stick to, is being myself because I have embraced the fact that I have such a big personality and I really want to showcase that in my own way.
Since her first appearance as a reality TV bombshell, Maura Higgins has captivated and won over millions of TV fanatics. Today, she is a strong female role model, conquering one career challenge after another and achieving things that once only existed on a manifestation board. A model, a presenter, and a household name in the UK and US, Maura Higgins sticks to what she knows, being herself, and so should you.
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Interview: Karolina Kramplova
Photographer and Creative Director: Eazy Visuals
Stylist: Lily Hobman
Makeup Artist: Suzy Clarke
Hair Stylist: Carl Bembridge
Photo Assistant and BTS: Liam James
Stylist Assistant: Sim Wouhra and Lara Sandres
Noctis Production: Genea Bailey
Studio: Too Young Too Simple Studio