Entertainment
Mrs Brown’s Boys’ Gary Hollywood says he and Brendan O’Carroll haven’t spoken since feud over pay
Gary Hollywood (left) and Brendan O’Carroll (right) have not been in touch since falling out (Picture: PA/Getty/BBC)
Gary Hollywood has revealed he and Brendan O’Carroll have yet to rebuild their friendship after falling out due to a pay dispute on Mrs Brown’s Boys.
The actor, 41, played hairdresser Dino Doyle in the comedy series, but quit the role when he was axed from one of two Christmas specials last year.
He told OK magazine he and Brendan, 65, who created the series and played matriarch Agnes Brown, have not spoken since: ‘Nope. It’s unfortunate the way things unfolded. I did hope we’d be able to reconcile or communicate respectfully, but it is what it is.’
Gary added: ‘There was a problem with pay and things came to a head. Dealing with the fall out has been extremely exhausting and has really taken its toll on me emotionally.’
In December, Gary had claimed that he was being paid less than others in the cast of Mrs Brown’s Boys, many of which are members of the O’Carroll family.
He told the Daily Star Sunday at the time: ‘‘I feel I wasn’t being paid equally and I wasn’t being given an explanation for decisions.
The pair starred together in Mrs Brown’s Boys until Gary quit at the end of last year (Picture: BBC/BBC Studios/Alan Peebles
‘When I tried to resolve it, nothing was done. I was just disregarded. But I won’t put up with it anymore. I won’t be treated like that. This has gone too far. They shouldn’t do this to people.
‘I am taking legal action. The papers have been lodged for a tribunal and the process has now started.’
Their dispute came just months after his brother Gerard died after having two heart attacks, but Gary says the coronavirus lockdown have him the ‘time and space to process it and grieve fully,’ but admits losing his brother made him consider his ‘own mortality’.
More: Mrs Brown’s Boys
The dad-of-four also faced a difficult time when his son Ollie was born four weeks premature, weighing just over 5lb and jaundiced.
Gary admitted: ‘[It has] absolutely been the worst year of my life. I’ve felt depressed because it felt like it was one thing after another.’
OK Magazine is out now.
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