OUCH: ‘I’ll never forget the Rose of Tralee, for all the wrong reasons’

The Down Rose has spoken out about being mistreated during her time on The Rose of Tralee.

Fainche McCormack took to Facebook to write a lengthy post about how the contestants were "bullied" and "treated like animals in the circus," during the famed competition.

"The Rose of Tralee was honestly the most amazing experience of my life, until Sunday morning," she wrote.

"I, and my fellow rose sisters, did not sign up for a cheap reality television show in which our emotions would be manipulated for entertainment purposes, nor did we sign up to be treated like animals in the circus and held in a room against our will.

"Cameras intrusively followed us all week and asked inappropriate probing questions; asking one girl what colour underwear she was wearing right before she went on stage, what's acceptable about that?" Fainche argued.

She finished by saying while it was a good experience, the producers should have concentrated on the girls rather than concentrating on viewing numbers.

"I could go on for days about the many ways we were manipulated, bullied and mistreated; However, up until a certain point, the Rose of Tralee was the experience of a lifetime, every part of a little girl's dream.

"It's just a shame that television viewing numbers became more important than the truly amazing girls that got hurt and that now have to deal with the emotional trauma of the whole, quite frankly disgusting and cruel ordeal.

"None of us signed up for a cheap reality television show and now unfortunately the Rose of Tralee is an experience I will never forget, for all the wrong reasons," she ended.