Roma’s New QVC Jewels

THOUGH Roma Downey’s popular CBS series Touched By An Angel ended its run in 2003 after nine successful seasons the Derry-born star is still on Cloud 9, and with good reason. 

We had a nice chat with Roma a few days ago about her new life post-Angel, and it’s clear that she’s enjoying every minute of it. She’s living in a Malibu beach house with her 8-year-old daughter Reilly, enjoying a serious romance with reality TV titan Mark Burnett, and designing a new range of Celtic-inspired jewelry that will debut next Monday afternoon on QVC.

“Things are really going great; I can’t complain at all,” Roma told us. “Before I came to America I did a three year fine arts degree, and for many years I hadn’t any use for it at all. Now it’s coming in very useful.”

Roma was approached by the Creative Brands group 18 months ago about doing a line of products that would bear her name and things she’s associated with — her Irish heritage, obviously, and also the inspiration she provided while portraying the Angel Monica on her show. 

The first fruits of the association will be for sale on QVC on Monday, November 15 from 2-3 p.m. on the East Coast, three hours earlier on the West. The “Roma Downey Inspirational Jewelry Collection” features a number of lovely sterling silver pieces, and the average price, $50, is quite affordable, especially in the run-up to the holiday gift-giving season.

Roma will head to the sprawling QVC facility in Pennsylvania to tape the show live. “The first collection will feature about 20 pieces, and some will be things that can be added to in the next collection,” she says. “For example, we’ll be selling a charm bracelet, and if you tune into the next segment you could pick up the next charm, that kind of thing.”

Roma will make six appearances on QVC during the next 12 months. Creative Brands has big plans for their new star, including a range of greeting cards, home accessories and furniture. 

“It’s a new departure for me but I’m looking forward to it,” she says. “It’s fun and creative to adapt my own personal taste and Celtic background into the products.”

The grind of taping a weekly show for nine years certainly took its toll on Roma, and she says she’s in no rush to leap back into TV land for the time being. Being a full-time mom is the most rewarding role of all to play, she adds.

“For the first seven years of Reilly’s life I missed just about everything,” Roma laments. “I was always on the set, always busy, and now it’s a great joy for me just to be around for her and participate much more in her life.”

Roma and Reilly moved back to Malibu from their home in Utah, where Angel was filmed on location. “I don’t miss it at all,” Roma says. “I felt terribly landlocked there. We made very good friends in Utah, but when you’ve been relocated for professional reasons there’s always a personal resistance.”

Speaking of the personal, January will mark the one-year point in Roma’s relationship with Mr. Burnett, the hot-shot creator of mega-hits such as Survivor and The Apprentice. Perhaps a reality show of her own beckons in Roma’s future?

“Oh, I don’t think so,” she laughs. “I think it’s probably best not to mix business with pleasure, but I guess never say never. I don’t see it at the minute, though.”

Roma describes her relationship with the English-born Burnett as “serious,” and the two enjoy traveling around the globe. “We were in Vanuatu where the current Survivor was shot, and for Thanksgiving we’re taking the kids and heading off to Micronesia.” (Burnett has two sons from a previous marriage.)

Before taking the U.S. entertainment industry by storm, Burnett’s previous occupations included a stint as a British Paratrooper in Northern Ireland, not far from Roma’s Co. Derry base. “I know, oh God!” she laughs. “We were in the same corner of the world, and we had to come here to meet each other.”

Is the sound of wedding bells tolling for the happy couple? “Well, I’m really, really happy,” is all Roma would say on that matter. 

Burnett lives only a few houses down from hers in Malibu, and as a recent birthday gift he gave her scuba diving lessons. “Now I’m a certified open water scuba diver,” she proudly boasts.

The next time Roma travels home to Ireland, she’ll probably be doing so with a U.S. passport. She completed the paperwork for her citizenship a while back, and is hopeful that she’ll be sworn-in at the start of the New Year.

“I just love this country. I’ve been so fortunate here,” she says. “America has been very good to me.”

That goes both ways, as Angel was a series that heralded an era, however temporary, of kinder, gentler TV programming that was personified by Roma’s heavenly presence as Monica. 

But now QVC beckons. If you miss the broadcast on Monday, visit the network’s website as www.qvc.com to purchase the jewels. The link to Creative Brands is www.creativebrandsgroup.com/pr-Update-Roma.html.