Demi Isaac Oviawe ( ; born 2 November 2000) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Linda Walsh in the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

and BBC comedy '' The Young Offenders'' (2018–2020). In 2017, the ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...

'' named Oviawe as one of their annual "Ones to Watch for 2018". She appeared on the 2019 series of the Irish edition of ''Dancing with the Stars''. She was eliminated on 17 February, making her the fourth celebrity to be voted off.

Early life

Oviawe was born in

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

and moved to Ireland at two where she grew up in the County Cork town of Mallow. Oviawe's parents, Joy and Joe, named her after the actress Demi Moore. They had two sons upon moving to Ireland. Oviawe lost her mother at five and her father at 15, both to cancer. She and her brothers were taken care of by their Irish stepmother Kim Carroll, with whom their father had two more sons, and their paternal uncle Courage. Oviawe attended Mallow No 1 National School and then Davis College, completing her Leaving Cert in 2019. She first discovered acting at the former when she was cast as Mary in the school's nativity play. At the latter, she played

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

and

Gaelic Football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

, and starred in school productions of '' Beauty and the Beast'', '' Grease'' and '' Sister Act''. Initially, Oviawe planned to train as a secondary school teacher. However, in 2017 she auditioned on YouTube for a role in the TV series ''The Young Offenders'', and won the role of Linda Walsh.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* Living people 2000 births 21st-century Irish actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses Actors from County Cork Actresses from Benin City Black Irish people Irish film actresses Irish television actresses Nigerian emigrants to Ireland Nigerian film actresses Nigerian television actresses People from Mallow, County Cork {{Nigeria-actor-stub