'Raised By The Village' aired on RTE last Monday evening saw two Dublin teens swapping their cosy life in the capital for life with a new family in a rural town.
15-year-old Tallaght schoolgirl Leah was relocated to the picturesque village of Kildorrery in the heart of Cork’s Ballyhoura Mountains while Scott from Crumlin stayed with a family in Leitrim.
Obsessed with her phone, Leah liked to be pampered at home but was in for a reality check as soon as she set foot under the disciplinarian care of the Hurley family.
After just a couple of days, Leah threatened to leave the show and objected to having to help out in the community. During her week long stay, she was forced to weigh chickens and shovel donkey poo on the farm.
However, after settling into rural life and helping out in a local retirement home and in the local market, she had a change of heart. “When I first came down, my ambition was just to marry a rich man and use his money but now I realise I can make my own money and I might just stay single and have my own money to spend,” she said. And the biggest revelation of all was when Leah announced that she didn’t need her phone.
“I’ve had a really amazing week and I’ve done loads of things that I never thought I’d do and I’ve met loads of amazing people, but I can’t wait to go home,” she said.
Scott’s mum Wendy was delighted with the difference in her son: “This time last year he would have been quite fiery, to be honest with you, you couldn’t really talk to him. He’s not like that anymore, it’s just completely and utterly different,” she said.
