‘Mrs Browns’ Boys’ stars Fiona O’Carroll and Martin Delany have separated after 15 years of marriage.
Fiona O'Carroll and Martin Delany have split (c) instagram.com/fiona0carroll
The actress who plays Maria Brown - who is also the daughter of the show’s creator and leading star Brendan O’Carroll - has explained she and her husband “kind of grew apart”.
The 41-year-old actress told RTE: “Myself and Martin met very young. I was 16, and I suppose he’s all I’ve ever known and just kind of grew apart.”
The ‘Mrs Brown Boys’ D’Movie’ star reflected on her relationship with Martin - who has played Mrs Brown’s youngest son Trevor in the BBC One sitcom since its launch in 2011 - and how they “want the best” for each other.
She said: “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.”
Fiona- who shares kids Felix,13, Eli, 12, Dexter, six, Isaac, four, with her estranged husband - noted they simply stopped being "on the same page".
She added: “There were no major fights, and nobody else was involved but it was case of not being on the same page any longer.”
She also shared why their marriage had not ended sooner, citing the impact of her own parents’ breakup - Brendan was married to Fiona's mother Doreen between 1977 to 1999 - which left “a lot of hurt”.
She said: “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.”
Meanwhile, the festive season will see the comedy return for its 10th Christmas special.
A teaser for the special reads: "It’s Christmas in Finglas once again. Agnes has been recruited to the church choir, but she’s under strict instructions from Father McBride that there’s to be no singing and certainly no dancing.
"That’s not the only thing off-limits, a Christmas tree shortage means Buster has to get even more creative than usual trying to impress Agnes by any means necessary.
"Meanwhile Dermot and Buster have organised this year’s festivities at Foleys and are holding a Murder Mystery night in aid of alcoholic greyhounds. What could possibly go wrong?"