Could we have a new Irish celebrity power couple?
After weeks of speculation, Joanna Cooper and Conor Murray have gone public with their romance.
Not since Amy Huberman and Brian O’Driscoll first became an item has there been such intense interest in a rugby player and his other half.
Here’s everything you need to know about Conor and Joanna.
How did they make it official?
The pair confirmed suspicions that they were an item with Instagram posts on each of their accounts over the weekend following Ireland’s Grand Slam win in the Six Nations.
Joanna joined Conor, his teammates and their friends, families and partners for the post-tournament celebrations.
Rumours first swirled that Conor and Joanna were seeing each other when they were spotted leaving the Irish team hotel The Shelbourne the day after Ireland’s win over Italy in February.
We also caught a brief glimpse of him on her Instagram stories hours after the Ireland-Scotland match earlier this month.
What do we know about Conor?
The 28-year-old hails from Limerick and plays for both Ireland and Munster at scrum-half.
He was chosen as Player of the Year at the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Awards in 2017.
He’s previously been linked with former Miss Limerick Shauna Lindsay and with Love Island contestant Montana Brown.
Why do I recognise Joanna?
24-year-old Joanna hails from Derry and will be especially recognisable to fashion fans.
She represented Ireland in the 2016 Miss Universe competition, having been crowned Miss Universe Ireland in 2015.
Joanna studied journalism at Belfast University but now works full-time as a model.
She’s based in London where she’s represented by Present Model Management, though she’s also on the books with the Andrea Roche agency in Dublin and Studio Paris MGMT in the French capital.
What else do we know about her?
Despite her petite stature – she’s 5’5″, relatively short in the world of modelling – Joanna is one of the most in-demand faces for fashion brands with ASOS among one of her regular gigs.
A few years ago, The Sunday Times Style magazine reported that the top models at the online retailer can earn as much as €5,000 a day.
However, shoots are also reportedly pretty gruelling – with models expected to display dozens of outfits in a day.
She’s also recently worked for Agent Provocateur, hairdryer brand LanaiBLO and SOSU.
Speaking out about her diminutive height, Joanna has said she wants to help blaze a trail in the industry.
“My biggest goal will always be to inspire girls who believe they’re too short to model.
“I hope I can prove to them that if I can do it, then they can too.”
