BRENDAN O’Caroll has defended the star of a rival sitcom who was caught on camera looking fit to explode after Mrs Brown’s Boys nabbed a major TV award.
Actor Kiell Smith-Bynoe, appearing to be a bad loser, went viral when Mrs Brown’s Boys won Best Comedy at last month’s UK National TV Awards.
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Snaps of the 35-year-old, who plays Mike in Ghosts, prompted backlash online.
However speaking for the first time about the apparent Mrs Brown-bashing, Brendan told The Irish Sun: “The abuse that guy got online over that was terrible. I’m telling you now…there was no malice in him whatsoever.
“He was only pretending to look pissed off when we won but everybody took it completely wrong.”
The Finglas funnyman, 69, said that appearing to be a bad loser had been a running gag all night, with viewers seeing losing quiz show host Bradley Walsh trying to drag rivals Ant and Dec off stage when they beat him to a top gong.
Brendan told us: “Bradley was shouting at Ant and Dec: ‘No you’re not getting that award.’
“It was the same gag we were all doing and just for the cameras. So he (Smith-Bynoe) was taking the piss and everybody took it completely wrong.”
But Brendan, 69, wasn’t faking his own joy that Mrs Brown’s Boys scooped its sixth NTA, winning a public vote for Best Comedy over huge hits including Brassic, The Gentlemen, Ghosts and Lee Mack’s Not Going Out.
Brendan said: “They keep saying that sitcoms are dead so I was delighted that two out of the five shows nominated for Best Comedy – Mrs Brown and Not Going Out – are studio-based sitcoms.
“They said the sitcom was dead in the 80s and then Only Fools and Horses came along.
“The first series aired and then it got cancelled. But because there was a writers’ strike in the BBC, they repeated it. Then it took off and became the most successful studio based sitcom since Fawlty Towers.”
Brendan admits that the sixth National TV Award gives him huge encouragement to keep going with Mrs Brown and the BBC agree, green-lighting a new mini-series which starts shooting in April.
Brendan told us: “I can’t tell you what it meant to get that sixth NTA, to be this far down the road and for it to be up against such really stiff competition. I was only signed up for 18 episodes. We have done 56 now.”
The Mrs Brown’s Boys crew – including many of Brendan’s own family – will be hitting the road for a string of theatre shows this winter.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Buster Brady
Danny O’Carroll has played Anges’ son Buster since 2011
And while he works on set with his sister, dad and aunt, he also works with his wife, son Bono, best pal and brother-in-law too.
Cathy Brown
Jennifer Gibney plays Anges’ daughter in Mrs Brown’s Boys, but she’s actually Brendan’s wife.
So that makes her Danny (Buster) and Fiona’s (Maria) real-life step mum.
She’s also related to Eilish O’Carroll (Winnie), but not by blood, as she is her sister-in-law.
Winnie McGoogan
Eilish O’Carrol who plays Anges’ next door neighbour Winnie, is actually Brendan’s sister in real life.
This makes her Maria and Buster’s aunt, as well as Jennifer’s sister-in-law.
To make matters even more confusing, she’s also grand aunt to Bono Brown and her on-screen daughter Sharon is Jennifer’s real-life sister.
Maria Brown
In the show Brendan’s real-life daughter Fiona O’Carroll plays his daughter-in-law as she is married to Agnes’ son Dermot.
But in fact she’s actually married to Martin Delany, who plays Agnes’ son Trevor.
So Fiona’s real-life step mum is Jennifer Gibney, Danny (Buster) is her brother, Eilish (Winnie) is her aunt and she’s aunt to Jamie O’Carroll (Bono Brown) as well.
Trevor Brown
Martin Delany plays Agnes’ youngest son Trevor and is married to Fiona O’Carroll in real-life.
This makes him Brendan’s son-in-law, Danny’s (Buster) brother-in-law and Jamie (Bono) is his nephew.
Betty Brown
Amanda Woods is mum to Jamie O’Carroll, making her Brendan’s daughter-in-law
Though things are already confusing enough, Amanda Woods’ alter-ego Betty is also related to creator Brendan.
The actress is married to Danny O’Carroll (Buster), so this makes her a daughter-in-law both on-screen and off-screen.
Bono Brown
The young lad – played by Jamie O’Carroll – is the youngest of the O’Carroll/Brown clan.
His real-life dad is Danny, making Brendan his granddad and Amanda is his real-life mum.
Brendan said: “Because our tour was delayed to 2019, then 2020, then 2021, we had all the arenas waiting to go.
“But after that all the big gigs were booked up so I thought let’s go back to where we started in the theatres.
“It’s soul satisfying for me to go back to places like Derry which is where Mrs Brown started and already sold out.
‘LOVING IT’
“That’s how Mrs Brown took off, places like Siamsa TÃre, playing to 350 people, and I loved every minute of it.
“But you couldn’t call this a small theatre tour as the INEC in Killarney holds 3,500. But I’ll be loving every minute of it.”
Mrs Brown’s D’Live Show hits Leisureland in Galway on November 28, 29 and 30. It then moves to the Gleneagle INEC Arena in Killarney, Co Kerry for dates on December 5, 6, 7 and 8 before wrapping up in Dublin’s 3Arena on December 20, 21 and 22.
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