Derry Girls star reveals she’s gone ‘no contact’ with her family and moved to Spain after selling her house in Ireland

DERRY Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell revealed she has cut off her family and moved to Spain. The actress, 39, who played Michelle Mallon in the Channel 4 comedy, stopped talking to her relations after an “intense” bout of therapy. Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell revealed she has cut off her family and moved to Spain Credit: YouTube Pictured from left, Derry Girls star Dylan Llewellyn as James, Saoirse Jackson as Erin, Jamie-Lee as Michelle, Nicola Coughlan as Clare and Louise Harland as Orla Credit: Handout Appearing on the Dish from Waitrose podcast with hosts Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Jamie-Lee revealed she sold her house in Ireland last year and moved to Barcelona for a fresh start. The TV star said she “trusted the universe” when deciding impulsively to relocate to Spain, despite not knowing anyone there. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! “I was wrapping up therapy back home. I finally did some therapy, which I know is pretty big deal for an Irish woman, but it was great,” she explained. “I just had to figure some stuff out. You know, you kind of get to a certain point of your life or your career or whatever and then you’re like, ‘Oh, that is a problem. I need to figure that out.'” The actress sold her house in Ireland and moved to Barcelona Credit: Getty Jamie-Lee with Nicola Coughlan on Derry Girls Credit: This picture may be used solely for Channel 4 programme publicity purposes in connection w She went on: “So I did therapy, which was pretty intense and really tough, to be honest. And then I got to the end of it. I completed it. Cured, guys. All the healing’s done. And then it was like, right, now time to have a good big start for myself. “So, I just sold my house and just went, ermm Barcelona. I know, it’s mental. “I’ve always been hyper independent. And if I wanted to do something, I’d done my research and then just did it – you know what I mean? “And there’s a lot of good and bad with that. You sort of learn by mistakes – and as you keep going and stuff, and I’ve had plenty. But this time, thankfully, it’s worked out really well.” Most read in TV Jamie-Lee explained that therapy prompted her to cut ties with her family back home. “Well, that’s part of the therapy. I had to go no contact with my entire family,” she said. “But, it’s just one of those things, you know. And the more I’ve sort of talked about it and been honest about it, I’m seeing it’s, unfortunately, not the most unusual thing for adults.” She was raised in Derry and moved to England to study performing arts after school. Before her move to Spain, she split her time between Northern Ireland and London. For her next role, Jamie-Lee will appear in the upcoming six-part BBC One comedy Hopley Hall, centred around the staff and volunteers at a historic Grade-I listed house in the Northern Ireland countryside. Derry Girls aired from 2018 until 2022. Comment now