Meath businesswoman and actress wants the Universe

ANN CASEY
A young Dunshaughlin woman, Chelsea O’ Toole, has been chosen for the finals of Miss Universe Ireland 2018, which will take place on Thursday night in Dublin’s Mansion House.
Chelsea, who has worked as an actress on stage and screen says she is looking forward to the contest, and isn’t a bit nervous yet.
“I don’t usually get nervous about anything until I’m actually there, doing it,” she says.
Chelsea is a qualified beautician and make-up artist, she runs her own dress company and is a talented actress.
She also volunteers for special needs charities.

It was through her work as a make-up artist that she found herself a finalist in the Irish heat of Miss Universe.
“I was doing the make-up for those who were being auditioned for the show. One of the organisers came up to me and asked would I be interested in auditioning.
“I said it wasn’t something I would do, I didn’t think I was good enough. Some of the others there told me I should do it and towards the end of the day, I agreed and ended up as one of the 28 finalists.
“I am tall - around 5ft 81/2 ins, but I never saw myself as a model, but now I am considering it as one of my options.”
Chelsea is a daughter of Tina and Anthony O’Toole and has three brothers, Alex, Nathan and Glen and she says from a young age, she always wanted to act.
Chelsea has only recently finished filming a mini-series with Tom Hardy in a four part drama series called ‘Martina Cole’s - The Take’, where she plays Hardy’s daughter.
Her brother Nathan played the role of ‘Bjorn’ in the popular TV series, ‘Vikings’ and featured in a US TV show, ‘The Borgias’ and has been in a number of ads. When Chelsea left Dunshaughlin Community College, she didn’t really know what she wanted to do.
“I did beauty for a few years and ended up working on a cruise ship as a beautician.
“When I got back, I set up my own business Goddress – I sell and rent out formal dresses, mainly for debs,” she explains.
Meanwhile she is looking forward to the Miss Universe competition.
“I think it will help me make up my mind whether I want to act, model or maybe go into something like speech therapy and work with kids with special needs.”
In the run up to the competition, Chelsea has had a lot of advise and help from Britney Mason, director of Miss Universe and Cailin Ni Toibin, last year’s Miss Universe Ireland.
“They have both been amazing and we have been taught the walk and just generally they make us feel more confident.”
On the night of the competition, Formar will provide the make-up while Zero One Hair Salon and 11 Haircare Australia will do the hair.
Chelsea will be wearing a dress picked from her Goddress collection.