Celebrity Ultimate Hell Week recruit and soccer golden girl Stephanie Roche talks to Carissa Casey about her experience on the show and her future plans.

Ace striker Stephanie Roche is blunt about the week she spent ‘trying out’ for elite special forces as part of RTÉ One’s Ultimate Hell Week. “It was hell,” she says, “a crazy, crazy experience.”

One of 18 contestants, Stephanie has survived on the show so far. Filmed over a week last May, she says she found herself tested in more ways than she ever imagined.

“When I was asked to do it, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go ahead with it, because I heard the show was extremely tough. But looking back on the whole thing, I’m so glad I did it but I don’t think I’d ever, ever do it again,” she says.

The Peamount United footballer is as fit as any young woman has a right to be, working out regularly. But she was still worried that she wouldn’t be fit enough for some of the challenges. “There’s no amount of training that you can do for it because, I felt, it was more mental than anything. You were just constantly switched on, you couldn’t switch off at all. It was all in your head. Even when you were sitting down, relaxing for a bit, they’d come in and throw things around. You couldn’t relax for one minute.”

It didn’t help that the recruits have no idea in advance what each challenge involves. “When we were bought to a different challenge, you’re looking around and in your own mind you’re taking in the surroundings and you’re trying to think what it could possibly be. There are so many things that it could be. When it comes to the actual challenge you’re just thrown in and you have to do it. For me, as I said, I train and go to the gym quite a lot. I’m fit and healthy but it was the mental struggle more than anything. For most of the recruits who were there that was true.”

All of which begs the question, why on earth is she so glad she did it? Part of the answer is the bond between the recruits, which included weatherman Deric Hartigan and singer Jake Carter. “Myself and the other recruits developed a really good friendship,” explains Stephanie. “We worked hard for each other and we were there for each other. You hear people talking about this stuff and you think, ‘Aw that’s a stupid thing to say’. But we’re the only ones who really know what we went through and that’s a really special thing to share. The main thing for me is that I challenged myself and I feel proud of what I did on the show.”

Stephanie shot to global prominence in 2014 when a goal she scored was nominated for FIFA’s Puskás Award and she found herself in the final three alongside Lionel Messi and James Rodriguez. It was an extraordinary achievement and one which saw her playing at clubs in France, the US and Italy. But a leg break and injury set her career back. At one point she was unable to play for 18 months. She has spoken about having great luck with her Puskás nominated goal caught on video and terrible luck afterwards with injuries.

She’s now back at Peamount United and playing as well as ever. The team has won the Women’s National League, with Stephanie scoring twice in the cup final and being awarded player of the match.

A big focus of her time these days is a children’s football coaching business she has set up (stephanierochefc.com). She had planned to develop it when she returned to Ireland in 2020 but like many plans that year, the pandemic intervened. She’s now back with renewed energy. “We started off with football camps during midterms and summer and Easter holidays. We also do after school programmes in schools. We were in three schools last year and we’re hoping to get into a couple more this year.

We offer one to one sessions and travel around the country to do them. We travelled to Kerry recently to do a one-to-one session with a club team. So it’s a mix of everything,” she says.

Like many women in sports, Stephanie is passionate about keeping young girls playing into their teens and beyond. She has been vocal in her praise for the Football

Association of Ireland, when it recently agreed to equal pay for both the men’s and women’s teams. “It’s a step in the right direction,” she says.

“It’s something that young girls can see that shows them there’s fairness within the game and that gives them something to drive for.”

“There’s always been a huge drop out with young girls, particularly when they get to the age of about 13 and 14. I think it’s important to encourage young girls to stay in sports. I’m obviously a great advocate for it because it’s done a lot for me. I’ve played professional football, I’ve played international football. Football has given me a great career. It’s important for young girls to see these things happening.”

Stephanie has also impressed football fans with her punditry on RTÉ during the Euro matches and on the Premier League on Premier Sports. It’s work that she plans to develop. “It’s great to see female pundits get the opportunity. The likes of RTÉ have really paved the way, more and more women are getting involved. The more we see women on the screen talking about football the less unusual it will seem. It’s a positive step,” she says.

Meanwhile the rest of us get to follow the trials and tribulations of Stephanie and the other recruits during Celebrity Ultimate Hell Week. Regardless of who wins, Stephanie is already a clear champion.

Celebrity Ultimate Hell Week is broadcast on Wednesdays on RTÉ One at 9.35pm