IRELAND AM star Eric Roberts has enjoyed quite a successful year in both his career and personal life.
The Donegal man, who started making TikTok‘s during lockdown, has already appeared on a Netflix series and now presents on Virgin Media’s hit chat show Ireland AM.
And in July, the social media star announced he would be expecting his first child with wife Niamh Roberts.
The happy pair got married back in August 2023 in a church wedding surrounded by friends and family.
With over 650,000 followers on TikTok and his screen career going from strength to strength, here’s everything you need to know about the budding presenter from his early career to his “gruelling” TV appearance.
WHAT WAS HIS ORIGINAL JOB?
Eric originally started off as a special needs assistant and worked in creches, primary schools and secondary schools for over eight years.
The Irish star told The Irish Sun: “It was just the most rewarding and fulfilling job ever. No day was ever the same.”
Eric emphasised the importance of the work that special needs assistants do and claimed he was “incredibly lucky” to spend time in that career.
He hailed his 17-year-old nephew Oisín as his inspiration and said: “My nephew is a huge part of my content and he has cerebral palsy.
“I’ve been kind of working with him his whole life as well and it was him that inspired me to get into it and I absolutely love working with children with disabilities.
“They’re the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my life.”
HOW DID HE BECOME TIKTOK FAMOUS?
The funnyman began creating content during the Covid-19 lockdown as a way to keep himself entertained and to make others happy.
He started out by posting dance routines on TikTok before moving into satirical Irish comedy routines and sketches.
Speaking to The Irish Sun, he said: “I think, like a lot of other people, around lockdown I downloaded TikTok just out of total boredom and very quickly got addicted – like the rest of the nation.
“I went from being addicted to watching the videos to being addicted to posting them. I had one viral video and I think I just had a taste for it then.”
As the second lockdown approached in October 2020, Eric recalls getting tens of thousands of new followers per day.
The social media star had juggled his job as a special needs assistant alongside making the hilarious videos before deciding he had to make a choice between the two.
Today, the content creator has over 39.2 million likes on his videos and still uploads hilarious daily content for his followers.
WHAT TV SERIES DID HE STAR IN?
After deciding to become a full-time content creator, Eric also took on some incredible opportunities outside of TikTok.
He appeared on the Netflix series Squid Games: The Challenge – which saw one of the biggest cash prizes in TV history up for grabs.
With over 100,000 applicants applying, the Irish TikTok star was the only Republic of Ireland applicant to make the final 456 contestants.
Eric said: “It’s amazing to be able to finally speak about this! After having to keep such an incredible and totally one-in-a-million experience to myself for so long.”
The new Squid Games: The Challenge show is a realistic version of the hit Netflix series Squid Games, which consisted of some brutal challenges for it’s characters.
Eric said: “As incredible as the experience was, as you can expect from a reality reenactment of the iconic Squid Games series, we were pushed to our absolute limits.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. The hunger and lack of sleep was horrible, and when you mix that with having to play these high pressure games it was a real physical and mental battle.”
WHAT ARE HIS FUTURE CAREER PLANS?
With plenty of presenting roles thrown his way this year, the TikTok star recently landed a huge hosting gig on Ireland AM.
Eric will be a temporary replacement for roving weatherman Deric Hartigan.
Roberts told Goss.ie that he’s “excited for the challenge and for more opportunities with Ireland AM in future”.
The rising star is also a regular reporter for AIB’s The Toughest campaign and has also appeared on 2FM’s weekend show with Roz Purcell and Emma Power.
The Donegal lad also has a new children’s book in the works that will “bring disabilities to the mainstream in a lighthearted way for kids to understand”.
He told the Irish Sun: “Hopefully it’ll be a series of books but the first one will be coming out this summer and it’s about inclusivity in school settings – helping children and maybe parents understand that not all kids are the same.”