Who wouldn’t want to jet off on the holiday of a lifetime with their best friend? That’s why Andrea Thompson and Lucinda Light responded with an immediate ‘yes’ when they were asked to join Travel Guides for a one-off episode.
Airing on April 21, the special sees the former Married At First Sight brides heading off on an epic Irish adventure. But they were far from prepared, and didn’t even know where they were going when they arrived at Sydney Airport to join the regular Travel Guides cast, as per the show’s tradition.
This led to an amusing gaffe early on, with Lucinda misreading their destination as Dubai rather than Dublin!
“For quite a while there, I thought I was going to the Middle East,” Lucinda tells New Idea over Zoom as we catch-up with her and Andrea. “And Andie’s like, ‘You’re an idiot. We are going to Ireland!’”
The chaos didn’t end there. The bubbly pair concede that their internal compasses didn’t always steer them right, getting them lost “daily”.
“We may have got lost, but we looked fabulous doing it,” Andie quips, as Lucinda adds that they brought “fashions on the field”.
One hilarious moment even saw them get stuck inside a car park, so needless to say, their Irish adventure is set to prompt a few giggles.
“We couldn’t even get out of car parks,” Andie jokes, while Lucinda adds, “They don’t leave much room in Ireland!”
They joke that they “took turns” being the worst traveller and would be so focused on looking out for each other that they’d forget to keep an eye out for themselves!
Not unaware of their chaotic double act, Andie admits, with a chuckle, that they went as far as to tell production they couldn’t be left “unsupervised”.
“It gave us that disclaimer for ‘anything could happen,” she jokes. And certainly, everything did – from trying their hand at Gaelic hurling to visiting a sheep farm and battling the turbulent Irish weather.
The trip was full of laughs and mishaps, with “clumsy” Andie (or the “divine magnet” as Lucinda calls her) admitting to one unfortunate off-camera error.
“I bent down to cut a plant, and [my] microphone fell out, and I cut it off!” she confesses.
If that wasn’t enough, they also battled the rainy and windy Irish weather while visiting the Cliffs of Moher, but thankfully, they managed to avoid getting blown away into the Atlantic Ocean.
A true Aussie at heart, Andie says, “We got the most insane weather you’ve ever experienced!”
“We’d heard that, but to actually live it, you’re like, ‘wow, it doesn’t seem to affect them’. They’re all out in dance parties, still in the rain. Whereas, we’d just not bother.
“But yeah, we picked up a bit of that, Irish, ‘we don’t care that it’s raining’. I love that about them.”
“We just love the Irish spirit, that they’re just absolutely there for the living, wicked sense of humour, and so beautifully spirited,” Lucinda adds.
Though they got on like a house on fire with the Irish people, there were no holiday romances on the cards. Andie, who is in a relationship, jokes that single Lucinda got on better with the “Irish sheep”, while Lucinda says she wasn’t swept off her feet by any Irish men.
“It would have been rude not to kind of check out the talent, no, I didn’t [meet anyone],” Lucinda shares.
“I wasn’t unfortunately swept off my feet. I mean, I was too busy having fun with Andy and the rest of the cast.”
They were welcomed with open arms into the Travel Guides family and formed lasting friendships, with Andie gushing over Mark Fren and Kevin Moloney, describing them as “extra accommodating” and caring.
It’s clear it was a fun two weeks on the Emerald Isle, so will they be doing it again?
“Wherever we go, we’d have fun. I know it. I’d absolutely love another turn at Travel Guides,” Andie says.
Lucinda agrees but says they have no “expectations” of another invite.
And if there were to ever be another MAFS/Travel Guides crossover, the pair are backing their 2024 season co-stars, Timothy Smith and Tristan Black, as their “fun” successors.
All new Travel Guides Ireland airs on Channel Nine and 9Now at 7.30pm on Tuesday, April 21.
