Brendan O’Carroll on ‘edge of breakdown’ before Mrs Brown’s Boys: ‘I didn’t open the curtains for three days’-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro

Brendan said he was barely eating (Picture: ITV)

Brendan O’Carroll has said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown before soaring to success with Mrs Brown’s Boys.

The 67-year-old actor wrote and starred as Agnes Brown in the sitcom, which follows the Irish matriarch as she meddles in the lives of her friends and family.

The comedy first landed on our screens in 2011, while the third series aired in 2013, with there having been several Christmas specials as well.

Prior to Mrs Brown’s Boys being commissioned on television, Brendan worked on the theatre and radio circuit, becoming a celebrity in his native Ireland.

However, his success put a strain on his marriage to Doreen, with whom he shares three children, resulting in divorce.

During that time, Brendan had also secured funding for a film titled Sparrows Trap, but the deal fell through leaving him nearly £1million in debt.

Reflecting on the loss of his marriage and financial difficulties, Brendan said: ‘I was on the edge of a breakdown, a clinician would have said I was depressed, definitely.

Brendan with his wife Jennifer Gibney (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

He told The Sun: ‘I have never been as low before or since. I was numb, it was like I walked down a dark alley and I couldn’t remember the way out.

‘I didn’t turn on the lights, I didn’t open the curtains for three days, just picked at food, didn’t eat.’

Mrs Brown’s Boys first came out more than 20 years ago (Picture: BBC Studios / Alan Peebles)

When he decided to turn Mrs Brown’s Boys from a a radio play into a state production, Brendan then stuck gold and was fighting off offers from production companies.

Brendan also hit out at viewers who have called for the show to be cancelled, accusing it of being ‘transphobic’.

‘I don’t think about them, I write the show I write,’ Brendan shared.

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‘I don’t ever think of myself as being a man playing a woman, when Mrs Brown goes out on that stage she is a woman.’

Speaking about accusations of cultural appropriation, he added to The Sun: ‘Where do you draw the line? Is it okay for Leonardo DiCaprio to play a carpenter or do we get a carpenter?

It was recently confirmed that Mrs Brown’s Boys will be marking its 10-year anniversary with a mini-series, coming to our screens next year

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