Baz Ashmawy is a good guy to have on your side. Good natured, mischievous, curious, honest, chatty and charismatic - he's the ultimate sidekick to whatever misadventure you might find yourself in. Which is why he is the ideal host for RTÉ One's new show, Wingman.
Over the course of three episodes, Baz will meet people with something missing from their life. Whether it be an unfulfilled ambition, a lost love, a missed opportunity or an unsupported dream, no mission is too big or small. In the run-up to the first episode - where Baz mentors a dairy farmer with a love for theatre - we sat down for a chat with the good-natured host.
"I think a good wingman is not who you think it would be," says Baz. "You think it's going to be your best friend or your mum or your boyfriend but, really, it's someone who has no baggage when it comes to you. Someone who doesn't make assumptions about you, someone who believes in you. It only takes one person to believe in you and help you to do something.
"Your family and friends probably do all that but sometimes they know too much about you and they doubt you or doubt what you're capable of. You want someone who has a clean slate. That's what I provide in the show. I kind of slug it out with them. If you're trying something new and you look across to me and I'm failing terribly too, that can give you some comfort!
"Sometimes it just takes a few words from someone and it just sparks, it clicks something in you and you think 'screw it, I'll do it'. As you get older you sometimes think that the time has passed you, you've missed your chance but it's not the case."
Speaking of his own mentors, the award-winning TV and radio presenter says it's all about the women in his life. Unsurprisingly, his mother Nancy - famous for her role in the Emmy-Award winning 50 Ways To Kill Your Mammy - provides endless inspiration, comfort, and encouragement.
"My mother, my wing-wan as I like to call her," he laughs. "My mother is a huge wing-wan or wing-gran, she's brilliant, she brought me up with huge self-belief. Until I was in my mid-twenties I really did believe I could do anything, my mum gave me the belief that I could do anything.
"As I grew older, I realised I might not have been as great as she said I was," he added, smiling.
"But that was very important. It's very important to believe in yourself and to be around positive people and she's amazing with that. If I feel down, I pop into her and nick some of her positive energy. She's a great wingman."
My sister is a huge inspiration to me as well," he continues. "People think that if you're positive on the outside then that's who you are but everyone has their moments when they feel a bit down and need to be picked back up. My sister is one of those people.
"My missus," he adds. "I couldn't do any of the stuff I do without her, she picks me up too. I'm very lucky to have those people in my life."
When it comes to his career, Baz insists that he's "taken little bits" from numerous coaches whether they be his agents or co-workers. There is, however, one man that stood out from the rest when it came to sound advice and words of wisdom.
"Gerry Ryan took me under his wing and gave me some great advice, he was very kind to me," he explained. "He gave me advice about critics. I was always getting bad reviews, even though the ratings were good, we would get slammed by the critics. I always wanted to write back and say things in articles about them but he always told me not to.
"He said, 'there are always people who will criticise you and you have to believe in yourself. You know the stuff you're doing is good and funny and what you want it to be - these people either don't get it or don't like you and that's life, not everyone is going to like you'.
"And actually, my mother said something very similar. It's funny, I think it comes from life experience; you start by caring what everyone thinks and after a while, you believe in yourself enough to know that you've put the work in and you think it's good and that's enough. It's just about self-belief.
"I've always wanted to be on TV," he reflects. "And I remember people saying, 'what are you doing?'. My mum is from the 50s and back then, in Wicklow, when she said she wanted to be a nurse, people laughed at her. They told her that, because she was from a little village, the best she could hope for was a job in the local hotel - that's the limits they put on her. No one can tell you what you're capable of. No-one. It doesn't matter what age you are.
"That's the inspiration I got from doing 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy with my mum - it gives you such a good buzz to achieve things that maybe they doubted themselves about. In Wingman, I get to do that again and it's so lovely, it's a buzz for me."
Watch Wingman on RTÉ One this Sunday, April 28th, at 9:30pm.
