Sammy Leslie

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Sammy Leslie
Born1966
Nationality Irish
Occupation Hotelier
EmployerSelf-employed
Known for

Samantha "Sammy" Leslie (born 1966) is a female Irish hotelier, media personality and reality television show judge. She is the trustee of the Castle Leslie estate in County Monaghan, being responsible for a hotel, a spa, an equestrian centre and an organic cookery school. She acted as a judge alongside celebrity chef Derry Clarke and former radio and television presenter Bibi Baskin in the RTÉ One reality television series Fáilte Towers . She has also appeared on television programmes such as the RTÉ One series The Restaurant , where she appeared as a guest critic, and radio programmes such as the RTÉ Radio 1 programme Conversations with Eamon Dunphy . [1]

Contents

Career

Leslie is trustee to the Castle Leslie Estate, which her family, the Leslies, have inhabited since 1665. [2] [3] During her early twenties, Leslie began reorganizing the estate, which at that stage was not in the best state of any business. She set up a tearoom and through that venture raised funds to repair a broken roof. [2] Castle Leslie was the venue of the wedding of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and the former model and charity campaigner Heather Mills in 2002. The estate now has a total of 164 employees. [2]

Leslie was a judge in the Fáilte Towers television programme which was broadcast in August 2008. [2] On 16 November 2008, she was guest critic in an episode of the RTÉ television programme The Restaurant, an episode whose guest chef was Michael Healy-Rae. [4]

In 2007, Leslie was listed among eight finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. [5]

Personal life

In an edition of the RTÉ Radio 1 programme Conversations with Eamon Dunphy, presented by Eamon Dunphy and broadcast on Saturday 27 October 2007, Leslie spoke of her close relationship with her father, Desmond Leslie, who was a writer and an RAF pilot, her unusual family life and her experiences being reared in the castle. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Conversations with Eamon Dunphy" Archived 2009-01-03 at the Wayback Machine . RTÉ. Accessed 25 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Judges". RTÉ. Accessed 25 April 2009.
  3. O'Connor, Ruth. "Guiding the 'large ship' Castle Leslie through the generations". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  4. "Michael Healy-Rae". RTÉ. Accessed 16 November 2008.
  5. "ERNST & YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARDS | RTÉ Presspack". presspack.rte.ie. Retrieved 29 July 2019.