Thursday September 16 2010
She's just landed the biggest job in Irish children's TV but Diana Bunici's rise to fame hasn't been an easy one
The Lucan girl says she underwent massive upheaval when her family moved from Moldova to Dublin when she was just eight years old.
Diana (21) has landed the presenting role on Elev8 on TRTE -- the show which will replace The Den on RTE two.
Speaking to the Herald, Diana said: "My whole family moved here when I was eight and my little brother Daniel was born here so he's really Irish.
"I've been here for 14 years so I feel more Irish than Moldovan at this stage, I've done all of my primary, secondary and college education here.
"I still have a lot of memories of Moldova, we have a lot of family there and of course I miss them a lot.
"My parents came here in search of better opportunities.
"Although they both had good jobs, Moldova is quite a poor country so they wanted to move abroad."
The up and coming TV star hopes that she will do her home country justice when her show kicks off on Monday.
"I'm very excited about it, it's such a good opportunity," she said. "I do think that I am one of the first few Moldovan people to do something on national TV here which is quite exciting. In a way I suppose I am representing the country, so I hope people at home see it and are proud.
"People might find out more about the country -- most people just recognise us from the Eurovision. No one even knew where it was when I was younger and had first moved here."
And while it is hard to find time to visit her family in Eastern Europe, she manages to talk to them all the time thanks to technology.
"I used to visit once a year, but when you get older and busier it's harder to get over to visit. I miss it very much -- my grandparents and cousins, aunts and uncles are all still over there.
Tough
"But we keep in touch through phone calls and emails. I try not to let living in two different countries keep us apart. Skype is the best thing in the world!"
However, the pretty blonde insists that she hasn't always been "living the dream", and insists it was the tough times that made it worthwhile.
"It hasn't been easy, learning a new language, moving to a new country with different people. It has been tough, but Ireland is such a lovely nation, which has made it easier," she added.
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