‘I want to give my dad’s cancer a positive spin’ — Holly and Karl Carpenter on how his illness changed their lives and brought them even closer

When both of their fathers got a cancer diagnosis, model Holly Carpenter and boyfriend Jamie set up the Paddy’s Day Dip to raise funds and pay tribute to Karl and Keith, their beloved dads

Holly Carpenter and her dad Karl Carpenter talk about 'Paddy's Day Dip' cancer fundraiser

Liadán Hynes

Some years ago, when Holly Carpenter was experiencing online trolling, her father, Karl, stepped in to defend her. “When I was getting trolled on Twitter before, Dad set up a fake Twitter account and he was fighting back with all the trolls. I was like, if anyone finds out that’s my dad, it’d be very embarrassing,” she says, smiling. “But, no, he’s very protective.”

She says her father and mother, Jane, have always been supportive down through the years. “Anything I wanted to do, whether it was go to NCAD or do Miss Ireland, and leave college and do TV work and modelling, I never felt like they wouldn’t support me. And they’ve been very protective of me over the years.”