Strong female friendship is a theme in Lucy Kennedy’s life, so of course, there was no better way to spend her 50th birthday than with her nearest and dearest gal pals.

The TV personality turned the big 5-0 on April 21, and while it’s not a milestone birthday in her eyes in that it hasn’t changed her outlook on life, the occasion couldn’t go unmarked.

Speaking to EVOKE ahead of the publication of her new book, The Mini Breakers, Lucy said: ‘My 50th birthday party was a week ago, and I’ll probably never forget it.

‘I didn’t have a big public bash. I went on the Waterford ferry with my best friends. That was the perfect 50th for me. Nobody knew about it,’ she explained.

‘We ended up in Waterford Castle. We rented a house, myself and the girls, who the Mini Breakers are loosely based on. One of the girls, Nicola, got us all matching pyjamas, so we looked like the pink ladies,’ she laughed. ‘Keep in mind we’re all 50!’

‘We peaked way too soon, we started drinking at 12pm, so we were hungover by 8 o’clock that night, because, you know, we just can’t do it anymore. It’s getting harder as you get older.

‘So yeah, we were renting a house on the grounds of Waterford Castle. We ordered a Chinese takeaway, and we didn’t realise that they couldn’t come across on the ferry.’

‘So we went to get the Chinese takeaway, standing on the Waterford ferry, just in our pyjamas. So relatable!,’ Lucy shared.

‘And then again, all 50, and we’ve been drinking for a good six hours at this stage. We were trying to make TikToks, and none of us even have TikTok. It was just ridiculous.’

‘I love female friendship, especially female friendship where there’s history. There’s nothing more than close female friends. That’s all you need in life. Truly.’

‘They carry you through everything,’ she gushed over her girl squad. ‘They really do. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And with my girlfriends, they knew me when I was in school.

‘They knew me when I was an air hostess, picking mushrooms on the dole, working on Podge and Rodge. They think it’s hilarious when people say “Hi, Lucy!” They just think it’s so funny.’

‘They have zero respect for me,’ she laughed. ‘They have zero respect for my career, and they think the whole thing is just insane that people know who I am, because they’re just like, “The state of you”. They have no respect for me.’

Now that she’s 50, has Lucy’s mindset changed? The short answer is no, and in fact, she felt more of a shift in dynamic between 39 and 40 than she has 49 and 50.

‘I’m just carrying on,’ she told EVOKE. ‘I really don’t give a monkeys. If anything, I probably care less, because when I was approaching 40, I cared more.

‘I really do think 50 is the new 40, 60 will be the new 50. I just, I don’t really care. I didn’t do a big [announcement] on social media, because I think, who cares? It’s your birthday. Good on you, well done, so is everyone else’s.

‘When I approached 40, I was kind of thinking, “Well, cop on? What are you actually going to do with your life? What are you doing?”

‘In my 40s, my career really settled. I went back to radio, I started writing children’s books. Everything happened in my 40s. Now that I’m 50, I’m just really happy that I’ve reached 50.’

‘I’m healthy, thank God,’ Lucy said. ‘I’m still in love with my husband. Our three babies are healthy. My parents are alive. I’m winning, I really am winning.

‘But has it changed me? No, I don’t really care. I’m very immature. I have a good joie de vivre. I love life, and I’m always full of energy and the first person to have a drink.

‘I think that’s what keeps you young, and that’s what matters rather than the number attached. It’s hilarious that I’m 50. It’s hilarious that I’m a mom, and it’s hilarious that I have a career.

Does Lucy have any life lessons that have stuck with her over the years? ‘I’ve never taken myself seriously,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve always been of the thinking, good press, bad press, who cares?

‘What lesson have I learned? Family first, I think. That includes true friends. I think that’s why I love the idea of the Mini Breakers being based on friendship.

‘I look back at my career, and who has come in and out of my life. I think the one thing I’ve learned is to keep those you love close. Keep the goodies close to you. The ones that have lasted are the real ones.’

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