Brendan O'Carroll and Jennifer Gibney have been married for 16 years. They first became great friends before things turned romantic - and now they are more loved up than ever
Brendan O'Carroll and Jennifer Gibney
Brendan O'Carroll and Jennifer Gibney are one of the Ireland and UK's best loved showbiz couples.
The TV stars are best known for their roles on hit RTE comedy Mrs Brown's Boys, with Brendan playing lead role Agnes Brown and Jennifer taking on the role of her daughter Cathy.
While they rather hilariously play mother and daughter on screen, off screen the couple are husband and wife and happily married.
Here, we take a look inside Brendan and Jennifer's love story - from how they met to Brendan's sweet proposal.
How Brendan and Jennifer met
Brendan and Jennifer first met on set of TV sitcom The Course and quickly became friends.
They actually first got talking when Brendan spotted Jenny doing a crossword over a coffee. This was a hobby Brendan's mother used to enjoy, so the comic sat down with her and finished the crossword and from there they became great friends.
While it wasn't love at first sight for the pair, their friendship eventually blossomed into romance and they've been totally loved up ever since.
Previous marriage
Brendan was previously married to Doreen Dowdall. The couple first met on night out in Dublin and tied the knot in 1977.
Doreen and Brendan share three children together, Danny and Fiona - who both star in Mrs Brown's Boys - as well as son Eric.
The couple were together for just over 20 years before splitting in 1999. Brendan previously said he regretted how things ended, admitting he would have preferred their split to have happened earlier if he had been more honest about his feelings and less arrogant.
Romantic proposal and wedding day
Brendan has previously spoken about the tender moment he realised that he wanted to marry Jennifer and spend the rest of his life with her.
The Dubliner said one night he was up until 5am writing material, and when he looked over at Jennifer sleeping beside him he thought to himself, "What would I do if she wasn't there tomorrow?" Not being able to imagine life without her, he asked her to be his wife.
Brendan and Jennifer married in a private ceremony on August 1, 2005.
Pictures: G. McDonnell / VIPIRELAND.COM
Working together on Mrs Brown's Boys and secret to happy marriage
Some people could think of nothing worse than working with their significant other, but Brendan and Jennifer make it work effortlessly.
Jennifer said that because Mrs Brown's Boys is such a "magical" show to work on, her marriage to Brendan doesn't suffer from spending all of their time together. If they are ever bickering, the minute they step on set for the show they forget about it and have a great laugh together.
The actress also told that the "holy trinity" is the secret behind their marriage, by remembering that "three people" are involved - "there's you, there's me and there's us and you have to allow time for each person."
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