Oliver Callan defended himself against accusations of homophobia and revealed that he is gay on last night's Saturday Night Show.
The Green Tea star made the announcement to host Brendan O'Connor in the wake of newspaper reports that labelled him a homophobe on the back of his impressions of such figures as Paul Galvin, David Norris and Louis Walsh.
Watch the show here.
Callan said: “If you read this I’m portrayed as some kind of homophobe, but it’s not true. Let’s get the record straight here: I’m not, I’m a homophobe because I’m gay. Big deal. So all of this stuff is unnecessary as far as I can see.”
The comedian and impressionist went on to say that coming out in a small Monaghan town was not easy, joking that he was "literally the only gay in the village" and had his suspicions because he was quite old before he was able to drive a tractor.
He said: "I’m laughing about it now, but it’s not the easiest thing in the world to actually get out of the closet but when you do you kind of go ‘What the hell was the fuss about there?’ It’s something to have a laugh about, and that’s what I try to do, have a laugh about it, to get rid of the intolerances if I can at all. And try and normalise it if I can."
Callan was involved in an altercation with Kerry GAA star Paul Galvin, whom he previously lampooned on The Saturday Night Show.
The mimic explained that he didn't set out to offend Galvin, and said it was a pity he didn't laugh at the joke, going on to say that David Norris told him he enjoys his impersonation.
