Danny O’Carroll reveals on RTE tonight that his son is a 6ft 1in rugby star
Telly favourite Danny O’Carroll admits he’s taken aback that his son Jamie – who has played Mrs Brown’s Boys grandson, Bono, since he was a wee lad – is now a towering giant playing rugby for Ulster Youths.
And, so promising is 16-year-old Jamie at rugby, he was recently contacted out of the blue on Instagram by Ireland star Tom O’Toole to reveal he was impressed with his progress and marked him as one for the future.
“I think Jamie is 6ft 1ins, I don’t know where he gets his height, knowing what my family is like,” says Danny, whose wife and Jamie’s mother Amanda Woods plays Betty Brown in the hit show.
“He will only turn 17 in July but he’s playing Under 18s for Ulster. As big as he is, he is quite small on the team because they’re big brutes there. He has a big two months coming up, he’s aiming for his first real cap for Ulster with Inter Pros.”
Danny O’Carroll with son Jamie
For his club Letterkenny, Jamie plays as a flanker at No. 7, while for the province he’s playing No. 8 as lock.
“It was really nice for Tom O’Toole from the Ireland team to message him the other day saying he was doing well and to keep at it. The brotherhood in rugby is quite special.”
Dubliner Danny has been living in Manorcunningham, Co. Donegal, for nearly 20 years. He and Amanda have another keen rugby-playing son, Blake (12).
“I get teary-eyed looking back on Jamie when he was younger on the show,” admits Danny. “He was a great little actor; he was so good. He was on the last Christmas special and a lot of people didn’t know who he was as he has grown so much. He does his gym work up here and he’s putting on beef. He’s a great kid, I’m so proud of him.
“Blake was in the Christmas special too, he played Buster’s son called Blister. He’s made a few appearances.”
Danny reveals that he and Mrs Brown’s Boys co-star Paddy Houlihan are set to star in a new TV comedy series they’ve created around Men’s Sheds.
And Danny, who plays lovable rogue Buster in the hit show, adds that his famous father Brendan is set to leave Agnes behind for a while and join them as part of a new cast on their fledgling series.
“Paddy (who plays Dermot) has written a show at the moment and that is very close to getting commissioned by BBC1,” Danny (39) tells the Sunday World.
“That’s our little gem at the minute and it’s a cracking series called Shedites. It’s based on Men’s Sheds, about people who are lonely and what they get up to socially.
“So, Paddy wrote an episode around all these characters that’s in a Men’s Shed.
“For men’s health its brilliant, for comedy it’s brilliant and there’s not enough of it around on TV at the moment... We are a few years getting it made and it looks like we have the pilot.”
Danny adds the various characters are being assigned.
“We have to get ourselves in of course,” he smiles. “Me and Paddy would be the youngest characters in it. My dad said he’d be one of the characters in it too, which is super. It’s a perfect character for him. He’s a great actor, the part he has you’d nearly say it was written for him.”
Jamie O’Carroll on Mrs Brown’s Boys — © www.alanpeebles.com
Best friends both on Mrs Brown’s Boys and in real life, Danny and Paddy will soon be seen flying off to Amsterdam as part of RTÉ travel show ‘High Road, Low Road’.
The lads were not told where they were going until the got to the airport.
“When they said Holland... I just thought this could be a hairy one,” giggles Danny.
“You know the stories about Amsterdam and all the people that go there and the holiday they had, I had a completely different experience of Amsterdam and loved every minute.”
Danny, who keeps fit by running in his spare time, will film a mini-series of Mrs Brown for the BBC in April, then tour with the live show in the Summer before filming the Christmas specials in October.
“I get recognised worldwide and it’s hard not to get recognised, but I love it. I love Buster, absolutely love him,” he admits
Tags
RECENT