Lisa Screen Queen
TV presenter Lisa Cannon tells Andrea Smith about embracing new challenges and moving forward with vitality.
Broadcaster Lisa Cannon is always fi zing with ideas and innovation, and she isn’t one for sitting around waiting for opportunities to land on her doorstep.
She made her name through being part of the uber-glam squad on the TV3 fashion, beauty and entertainment show Xposé, and is currently producing and presenting her own show Spotlight. The series sees Lisa interviewing big name celebs about their lives and careers, which is right up her street as she has always loved the world of entertainment.
Lisa readily admits that the past two years have been difficult, as her much-loved uncle and aunt passed away, leaving her grief-stricken. Loss has been a part of the Dubliner’s life, unfortunately, as her adored mum Laura sadly died from cancer in 2008.
“It was extremely difficult losing my mum,” she says. “She was wonderful and I've actually lost many family members and friends of the family, including my granny who was a fantastic character and was 104 when she died. Losing people I loved has broken my heart, because we want to hang on to them for as long as we can.”
Dealing with grief, she says has instilled an appreciation in her around how fragile life can be, and has made her more determined to pursue her goals and embrace being energetic, animated and strong.
With most people’s vitality taking a knock during the pandemic because we were locked in our houses, Lisa is becoming proactive around it now that we’re emerging on the other side.
She has just signed up to a 20-week personal online training programme with UK trainer Charlie Johnson, and will be embracing a Mediterranean- type diet. Her aim is to have increased energy and vitality, and to make a few changes to complement what she’s already doing.
“I'm kind of dreading it, to be brutally honest,” she laughs. “I'm going to be 44 in June and recently had a good, strong talk with myself about looking after my health and vitality, which is more of a long game than going on a treadmill and eating lettuce leaves. I'm a normal woman, and I enjoy my cheese and chocolate and wine, and I don't want to be slim, I want to be strong.”
Lisa says she has no problem with ageing, because she’s so grateful to be still here. She has no major health issues, but there are a couple of areas she would like to improve, including her sleep and rest patterns.
“I don't sleep very well because I have the busiest mind,” she admits. “I’m a total night owl and could stay up until two in the morning researching things.
There’s loads going on with the output of my show, so my brain is always firing on all cylinders. I know I need to sleep more, but other than being tasered, I don't know how I can do it. I’ve been doing a bit of acupuncture and having more massages as they’re meant to be beneficial.”
GROWING CONFIDENCE
The other area Lisa is keen to take care of relates to bone health. “I feel very youthful but I’m feeling a little bit older in my bones, which isn't a bad thing, but it's difficult when you get knee problems,” she says. “I love to dance and did ballet from the age of four to the age of 18 and now I'm attending a chiropractor. Like what happened?”
While a few aches and creaks are inevitable when you get older, the upside is that Lisa has experienced an increase in confidence and wisdom as the years advance and feels she has a greater understanding of life than ever before.
The broadcaster doesn't like the negative way getting older can be viewed in society, with the acquisition of lines and wrinkles being equated with getting weaker. In her experience, it's the opposite scenario.
“We've all been through experiences like grief, sorrow, changing careers and whatever else, and actually I think we're at the peak of our powers as we age,” she points out. “When I look in the mirror, I still think that the possibilities are endless, and I want my life to have purpose in my 40s.”
Lisa says that the ageing process doesn't particularly faze her and she doesn't want to put any energy into needlessly worrying about developing lines and wrinkles.
“I look at my skin, which seems to have changed in elasticity around my neck, chest and decolletage, but I try not to place a lot of value on it,” she says. “I don't think this is a stage to be frightened of and remarkably I'm embracing it. I’m coming at it from a different perspective because my mum started to become very unwell at the age of 50 and passed away at 59. So I just want to embrace where I'm at and keep moving forward.”
As everyone knows, the media and entertainment industries can be cut-throat and ruthless, and while Lisa has always thrived in them, she is also open to applying her considerable skills to new challenges and opportunities.
“Television and film is a very precarious industry, but it’s also very exciting and seductive,” she says. “Though I think as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less tolerant of the bits of the industry I don’t like.”
“You have to be a mercurial kind of character where you're constantly reinventing yourself and you become a chameleon. So you look at your strengths and weaknesses and what you have learned so see what else you can do and what other avenues you would like to look at.”
Lisa loves art, interiors, writing, psychology and architecture and says there are definitely other strands of life that are beginning to interest her.
“Vitality brings mental vigour and there are wonderful avenues that I haven't explored yet, so I’m enjoying branching out and doing a bit of adventure and discovery,” she says.
Lisa is married to former Welsh rugby player, Richard Keatley, whom she met in 2011. He proposed to her in Paris and they were married in Florence in September 2015.
The other very important man in her life is her dad Michael, who worked as an English and maths teacher. He was also a freelance music writer for Hot Press and is a passionate photographer.
“They're my two favourite people in the world,” she says. “I’d be lost without them both.”
Lisa’s parents’ marriage ended when she was ten, and she lived between her French teacher mum's house in Leopardstown and her dad's house in Malahide. She was very close to both parents, who remained great friends, so special occasions were always spent together.
BROADCASTING
Her degree in drama and theatre studies at Trinity followed by an MA in film served her well in her work on the movie show, Box Office, on Virgin Media.
In the early days of her career, she worked on RTÉ's Nationwide, produced a documentary for NBC and Channel 4 on John Lennon's 25th anniversary, and was even a production assistant on Sex and the City in New York.
Lisa then joined Xposé and spent a decade on the popular show. “Xposé was wonderful,” she says. “I look back on it with such fondness. It was hard work because we were going off here, there and everywhere to interview people.
That day has gone now as you can now do interviews with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise virtually.”
Although Lisa finished up on the show in 2016, she has continued her relationship with the station – now called Virgin Media - and does regular stints covering the presenters on Ireland AM, as well as being series producer and presenter of Box Office.
Lisa is passionate about film, and interviewing actors, directors and producers has been a huge part of her career. She set up her own production company, Cannonball Productions, to drive her passion into projects she enjoys, and now presents and produces her own chat show, Spotlight, which is in its third season.
It is broadcast on DMG Media’s channels like Evoke and Extra, and she has pulled in great names so far. These include Jared Leto, Sharon Corr, Sophie Anderton, Helen Mirren, Colin Firth, Louis Walsh, Victoria Silvstedt and Moe Dunford.
“I'm very proud of Spotlight,” she says. “It started off as more of a film show, but now we've gone a bit deeper and it's evolving all the time. I was the producer of Box Office for seven years, which gave me great confidence to do this show myself, and I work with a great team, including editor Richard Waters.”
“I've been able to command huge interviews and I love having that creative control. I’m not sure whether the show will last next season and bomb out or whether it will keep going for two or three more years, but for now, it keeps me creative and active and feeds my soul. It’s also great fun and I'm really enjoying it.”
There is so much competition for work in TV and new people come on stream all of the time, whether that’s reality stars or social media darlings. Lisa is known for being a hard worker and is always brimming with ideas, and she believes that it’s important for people in creative industries to take control of their careers.
“You have to hustle for work,” she points out. “You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring, but I think that’s a recipe for disaster. We all have to keep our careers going or just bow out of them and I'm just not ready to give up the ghost yet.”
While TV is often viewed as an inhospitable place for women as they grew older, Lisa feels that the situation is starting to improve. She acknowledges that there is a predominance of young people in the industry, but also points to people like Oprah and Lorraine Kelly, who are still presenting in their 60s, and to Irish broadcasters who are around her own age.
“When you're younger, you’re so ambitious and have a huge appetite to be successful, so you will work for free and do whatever is asked of you,” she says. “ Then when you get to the top and are where you feel you're doing well, that’s when they want to get rid of you. It's definitely important that we have some wise faces on television, otherwise I don't know if we can really be credible and stand over certain things. I think people can stay in the industry, for sure, but it can also be quite cruel.”
Lisa’s production skills have caught the attention of overseas production companies, and she worked with Hallmark last year on the movie, As Luck Would Have It, starring Steel Magnolia’s JoAnna Garcia Swisher and Downton Abbey’s Allen Leech.
“I was organising extras all over the country and being back filming on movie sets was so thrilling,” she says. “I absolutely loved it and they’ve been in touch about further work.” Lisa has also created and is developing a six-part TV show, which she pitched to the UK, as she thinks it’s important to keep doing things that are slightly outside her comfort zone. She MCs events and is excited about the possibilities that are always unfolding. Whatever happens, she plans to look after herself and keep an eye on her health and wellbeing.
“Life is finite, and I think a lot of us are in denial about how all we know and love is going to be gone one day,” she points out. “I don’t think it's a good energy for women to be hard on themselves so we should just embrace life. It’s precious so you have to live it as best you can and don't feel under pressure to do what other people want.”
Check out Lisa’s website on lisaCannon.ie or follow her on Instagram @lisacannon