MRS Brown's Boys star Brendan O'Carroll revealed that he had the late Gay Byrne had a special friendship as Gay used to check up on him and told him to "take care of yourself".
The actor spoke about his friendship with the late RTE star with Ray D'Arcy on his radio show as he opened up about meeting on The Late Late Show for the first time.
Gay advised him to take a break
Brendan spoke about how he first bumped into Gay Byrne in the RTE studios and how he was "so nervous" before appearing on the chat show.
The actor explained: "I'd never met him outside of RTE, I hadn't met him before I did the first Late Late Show.
"I was so nervous the two weeks before the appearance on the Late Late Show - if anyone mentioned it I'd throw up."
He added: "I came out of makeup and he was coming the other way.
"I just said to myself, 'Just say, hi Mr Byrne, I'm on the Late Late tonight'.
"As I got to him he just went, 'Hello' and walked on and I couldn't speak.
'REALLY SHINE HERE'
"So when I went on the show that night it wasn't a great show, it was pretty dead.
"And I said to myself I could really shine here.
"It's a nine-minute interview but you can do a lot in nine minutes."
Brendan explained that he wanted to make an entrance and be different than all of his other guests.
He continued: "When I came out I stopped.
"He went, 'You probably won't know him as anything other than the writer of Mrs Brown's Boys, Brendan O'Carroll.
"I stood there and he realised I wasn't going to move so he came up and took my hand and he gave me a little tug and I tugged back and I go, 'Gay, how's you're mickey'.
"And a nine-minute interview turned into a 25-minute interview."
FRIENDSHIP
He also spoke about how after his appearance the pair sparked up a very close friendship.
Brendan said Gay also gave him advice on taking time off and looking after himself.
He explained: "It was just him and me having breakfast and he chatted about this that and the other and I'm wondering what am I doing here?
"And eventually I said, 'Why am I here Gay?' and he said, 'I wanted to have a quick chat with you to keep an eye on something.
"'You're surrounded by some wonderful people who all love you and take care of you but just remember this, they only make money when you work.
Brendan revealed that he and Gay were very close following his first Late Late appearanceCredit: Getty Images - Getty
"'So don't be waiting for them to say to you take a week off, they won't. You have to be the one that says I'm taking a month off and you just take care of yourself.'
"And he didn't have to do that."
Brendan's wife Jenny Gibney added: "He kept that up over the years. Himself and Kathleen were both very kind to me and every time we would meet up with them.
"He would always say, 'Jenny is he taking some time off?'
"He never lost that he always cared about you."
Brendan also spoke about how he's "not scared" to die following his 2018 health scare.
The Finglas funnyman previously told how a medical specialist seeing him breathless on the Late Late Show in October 2018 saved his life.
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