Mrs Brown's Boys star Fiona O'Carroll has split from her co-star husband Martin Delaney after the couple, who met when Fiona was just 16, 'grew apart' and realised they were no longer 'on the same page'
Fiona and Martin share four children (Image: Instagram)
Mrs Brown's Boys star Fiona O'Carroll has announced her split from co-star husband Martin Delaney.
Fiona, the daughter of the eponymous Mrs Brown star Brendan O'Carroll, tied the knot with Martin way back in 2006.
The couple met when they were just 16, but have now admitted they've grown apart.
Opening up about their relationship breakdown, Fiona explained: "Myself and Martin met very young. I was 16, and I suppose he’s all I’ve ever known and we just kind of grew apart.
"We wanted different things. I still have a lot of love for him and I only want the best for him and I think he feels the same way about me.
"There were no major fights, and nobody else was involved but it was a case of not being on the same page any longer."
Fiona, who plays Maria Brown in the BBC sitcom, explained she held onto her marriage for the sake of her kids, after seeing her father Brendan split from her mum Doreen in 1999.
She and Martin share four children together.
Speaking to RTE Guide, Fiona explained: "I think I hung on for as long as I did because when my own parents broke up, that was very public, and there was a lot of hurt involved there.
"For me, as a child, coming from a broken marriage, I didn’t want that for my kids.
"But having said that, my parents are extremely happy now so sometimes you have to go through hard times to get to happier times and as much as I tried my best to make it work, we tried for years and it just got to that point where we both decided, or I decided, it was time."
The couple have been together since 2006 (Image: Instagram/ Fiona O'Carroll)
She said she wanted to be a "role model" for her kids, and says her children are and always have been their "main focus".
They didn't even break it to the four that they'd separated until after almost a year.
Three of her sons are on the autism spectrum, and have high IQs while being affected by sensory issues and interpreting social cues.
Fiona admitted this made it slightly more difficult to decide when and how to tell the boys, adding she strived to "make it normal" for them.
Martin is now living in Portugal, though the duo still co-parent together and he stays in the house with the boys when he returns to Ireland.
But lockdown proved tough with Martin in another country and Fiona coping with being a single mum for the first time.
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