As Brendan Courtney returns to our screen to take another batch of celebrities down memory lane with Keys to My Life, the seasoned broadcaster talks to Janice Butler about the keys to his own new house, why he’s leaving city living behind and his ambitions and uncertainties for the future.
When I contact Brendan Courtney to organise this interview, he suggests lunch, on him; we’re off to a good start. He’s waiting for me at a corner table when I get to the restaurant. He’s wearing a bright red jumper, an always stylish broadcaster, podcaster and fashion designer. I’ve known Brendan since his Off the Rails days with Sonya Lennon and our interviews over the years have mostly been fashion-related.
This time, I was looking forward to delving into the other parts of his life, of which there are many. "I’ve two half marathons coming up soon," he says, looking equally excited and terrified of the prospect. At 52, he’s looking fit and healthy; he says he took up running with his partner Adam during the pandemic and what was an ambition to do 5km, has now turned into half marathons. Not bad, Brendan. We both order some healthy wraps, with a side of chips; balance in all things.
He’s back on our screens this week with a new series of the popular show, Keys to My Life, where he takes well-known personalities back to either a family home or a home of significance from their past. "When we came up with the concept of this show, we didn’t anticipate the emotional side of it. We knew it would be interesting and maybe exciting but actually, some of the front doors, when you walk through, takes the people’s breath away."
He admits he always had a curiosity, even as a child, to 'snoop’ in people’s houses. "When I was a kid, I remember vividly when it was my communion, and we were visiting family and I’d ask to use the toilet upstairs so I could go have a look around. I’d come down to my Mam and I’d say ‘Their duvets match their curtains’", he laughs. "I always loved looking at other people’s houses."
This season, the people going back home include Eilish O’Carroll (who plays Winnie in Mrs Brown’s Boys, and is Brendan O’Carroll’s sister). "Her story is amazing and she shares so much," says Brendan. Another stand-out is the former Labour Party leader, Joan Burton, who goes back to the mother and baby home she was born in. "She was adopted from there when she was five, but she recognised the view outside the window. She said she remembered it from standing in the cot. That was remarkable. There was a sense from her that she’d made peace with the past," he comments.
Brendan, who grew up in Coolock and then Tallaght, had an emotional experience himself filming one of the episodes a few years ago, when they drove by his childhood home in Coolock, that his family had lived in until he was seven and where two of his siblings had died. "My two sisters died as infants in that house and it hasn’t changed a bit: same gates, same bend in the bar at the porch, same windows. I sent a picture of it to my other sisters, and they were like ‘Get out of there!’ So I understand now just how emotional it is," he says of the how’s impact on the guests.
In 2017, Brendan and his family – his mother Nuala, father Frank and siblings Deborah, Suzanne and Daniel – came together to make a very personal documentary, We Need to Talk about Dad, which looked at the issues for families trying to care for older adults and the struggles they had to get proper care through the Fair Deal scheme for Frank, who had a stroke. Brendan’s father died a few months after the show aired and he says making the film had a huge impact on him personally and professionally.
"It changed my life," he says. "We made the documentary over the space of a year, Dad got to see it air in January and he died then six months later. I was very proud of him. He was a very private man and it took a lot for him to put himself on camera like that. But he knew Fair Deal wasn’t fair and he wanted to raise that. But he also knew that it would bring us closer together for his last year and it did. We all hung out and it was a lovely distraction."
On a professional level, the documentary created a big shift of focus, one that he had been looking for: "I think after that documentary, people saw me as human. It kind of killed the fashion thing a little bit, which I really wanted to happen. When you do a fashion show for so long, people see you as judgmental, even though you’re nothing like that. I saw Off the Rails as a ‘journey’ show, helping people, but I got stuck with a fashion label and I wanted to shake that. That wasn’t part of a plan, but after the documentary, people saw me as a broadcaster which is what I am."
Working on TV was never an accidental thing for Brendan. It was always the plan, but coming from a solidly working-class background, he wasn’t sure how to get there. He originally studied accountancy, when ambitions to go to drama school didn’t quite work out. "I applied for theatre studies in Trinity. I went to the audition, but at the same time I had applied for an accountancy course as well. My Dad said at the time, ‘They need accountants on the moon son, not actors,’ he laughs. "
Not willing to let the dream die, he got into theatre, looking after the books, then as a researcher with TV company, Tyrone Productions. "When I was 26, I wrote Wanderlust and successfully pitched it to RTÉ," he says, referring to the travel and dating show that ran from 1999 to 2002. "My God! I was tenacious, I wasn’t taking no for an answer," he laughs.
He went onto create Treasure Island, also for RTÉ, before moving to London. In 2008, he took over the hit fashion show Off the Rails with Sonya Lennon; the duo presented it until 2012, becoming household names and firm friends and business partners in the process, with their fashion label Lennon/Courtney.
He admits that turning 50 in 2021 really made him evaluate his life and what he wants to do in the future. "Fifty is a big one. Forty I didn’t care about. With 50, it’s not about looks because I feel fit and healthy. I see myself on screen, say with the new season of Keys to My Life, and I’m like; ‘Wow, you’re looking older’ but I’m not one bit afraid of ageing. The problem with getting older is you look tired for longer," he laughs.
"The real thing for me at 50 was, what the f*** am I doing with my life? Am I doing what I want to do and what I should be doing? I still don’t know the answer to that. I’m healthy, surrounded by love and support but I do wonder what do I want my window from 50 to 70 to look like," he explains. "Thirty to 50 is about trying to establish yourself, pay your rent, get some security in finance, normal life stuff. The next stage in my life is finding things that satisfy me and make me happy. I think when you don’t have children, you have more space in your head to think about your future like that."
Did he ever want to have children?
"Oh I did, ya. Well, I thought I did," he answers. "My therapist told me that’s because I’m an empath and I want to give unconditional love to something. So I adore my dog Nancy, Adam and my family. But I genuinely think there's a little void there; a pillar of reproduction and of love that’s not been filled and is slightly missing. I don’t feel regret or loss but I think there’s a natural gap in your thinking."
He admits he hates Christmas because he feels it’s a season for kids, but he stays around for his Mam, Nuala, who is now in a nursing home herself , living with dementia. "This year has been hard. She’s comfortable, safe and relaxed but it’s difficult. It’s difficult within the family; it’s just the way it happens. The family implodes when you lose a parent and when a parent is put into care, it’s very difficult. My Mam is a very important factor in my life."
He’ll be making a very big life change this summer when he plans to move out of his Dublin city centre apartment, to a bungalow in Wicklow, overlooking the sea. "I have just gotten the keys to what I’m calling a hovel on the hill," he laughs. "It's a three-bed bungalow right beside my sister Deborah, who I’m very close to.
"I’ve been looking around and this house came up for sale, so I went for it. It’s completely derelict so I’ve to start renovating it. I’m hoping work will start soon and I can move in at the end of the summer. I’m walking a financial tightrope at the moment, trying to keep my head about it," he laughs.
"I’ve been going there every weekend for the last 20 years, so it doesn’t feel like a big move to me. It felt the right thing to do, even though I’m sh*tting myself!"
What does his partner Adam think of the move? "I kind of trundled ahead with this; he’ll be grand," he laughs.
He felt, at this stage in his life, it was the right time to leave the city centre. "I live on the quays and it can be really rough. I mean, I love it and I feel comfortable but there’s always people in my doorway shooting up and I just felt I don’t want to grow old here. God love them, the addicts aren’t going to bother you, it’s the gangs of young fellas going around town that you have to worry about," he remarks.
He was subjected to a homophobic attack in Dublin city 10 years ago, but he says the experience didn’t leave him afraid. "It made me angry, not afraid. I wouldn’t let it make me feel afraid. I was walking down George’s Street with friends and this group of young lads just came up and punched me in the face and I fell to the ground. I didn’t feel set upon or trapped, but it wasn’t nice. It showed people that this stuff still goes on all the time," he recalls.
Looking to the future, apart from his big house renovation, he’s started a new podcast, Any News, with actor and 2FM presenter, David O’Reilly. The duo shine a light on a county in Ireland and then dive into their most iconic and bizarre local news headlines they can find. They have hopes to take it on the road and with the same management as the Two Johnnies working with them, the sky’s the limit.
Brendan hopes to do more radio, having filled in on the 9am slot on RTÉ Radio One last year along with Oliver Callan and Maura Derrane.
He’ll continue to fill in for Oliver and Ray D’Arcy every so often, but he says it’s given him a desire for his own show. "After the experience of it, I would love a show and to do more radio. I felt I was getting more comfortable with it, which is an experience and age thing. I really enjoyed it."
Most surprising of all to me is his hope to get back to dancing. In another life, he was a dance teacher, working part-time during college for some extra cash. Could we see him on Dancing With The Stars? "If I was going to do it, I would want to stay in it for a good few weeks, which would mean I’d have to be competitive and I’m not sure I have the head space for that at the moment. But with turning 50, maybe I should do it, so I don’t know is the answer," he laughs.
At this point, Brendan has a meeting to get to, so we get the bill. I offer to split, but he won’t hear of it. "Not at all, it’s my pleasure," he says. As we walk out together, I ask one last question: will we see his home renovation on TV? "No way," he says with certainty. "It’s going to be stressful enough."
