Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell has explained how undergoing an intense period of therapy has led to her cutting ties with her entire family.
The actress, 39, who played Michelle Mallon on the hit Channel 4 show, opened up about her lifechanging year in 2025 which saw her sell her house in Ireland and move to Barcelona to create a fresh start.
Speaking on the Dish from Waitrose podcast with hosts Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Jamie-Lee explained she ‘trusted the universe’ when deciding on a whim to move to Spain, where she knew no one.
‘I was wrapping up therapy back home. I finally did some therapy, which I know is pretty big deal for an Irish woman, but it was great,’ she explained.
‘I just had to figure some stuff out. You know, you kind of get to a certain point of your life or your career or whatever and then you’re like, ‘Oh, that is a problem. I need to figure that out.’
‘So I did therapy, which was pretty intense and really tough, to be honest. And then I got like to the end of it. I completed it. Cured, guys. All the healing’s done. And then it was like, right, now time to have a good big start for myself.’
Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell has explained how undrgoing an intense period of therapy has led to her cutting ties with her entire family
‘So, I just sold my house and just went, ermm Barcelona. I know, it’s mental.’
She continued: ‘Well, I’ve always been hyper independent. And if I wanted to do something, I’d done my research and then just did it- you know what I mean?
‘And there’s a lot of good and bad with that. You sort of learn by mistakes- and as you keep going and stuff, and I’ve had plenty. But this time, thankfully, it’s worked out really well.’
Jamie-Lee then revealed that her therapy also led her to the decision to cut herself off from her family back home.
‘Well, that’s part of the therapy. I had to go no contact with my entire family,’ she said.
‘But, it’s just one of those things, you know. And the more I’ve sort of talked about it and been honest about it, I’m seeing it’s, unfortunately, not the most unusual thing for adults.
The actress was raised in Derry, but moved to England to study performing arts after school, before splitting her time between auditions in Northern Ireland and London.
The actress, 39, who played Michelle Mallon on the hit Channel 4 show, opened up about her lifechanging year in 2025 which saw sell her house in Ireland and move to Barcelona (pictured with Dylan Llewellyn and Nicola Coughlan on Derry Girls)
Jamie-Lee pictured with her aunt Katrina and dad Charles in 2023
Jamie-Lee previously opened up about how therapy transformed her life in a December interview with hotpress.com, explaining that she was ‘trying to unpack a lot of stuff from my childhood.’
She said that after the global success of Derry Girls ‘things just weren’t clicking. I was really struggling mentally, and I had to take a bit of a pause to figure it out.’
‘Because those feelings and issues don’t go away – they just sort of hang about.’
Next up for the actress is the lead role in upcoming BBC One comedy Hopley Hall, created and written by Daniel Peak (Not Going Out).
The six-part series is centred around an historic and slightly shabby Grade 1 listed house in the Northern Ireland countryside, and follows the staff and volunteers who keep the house running.
Read the full article here
