It's a busy time of the year for TV presenter, writer and actor Baz Ashmawy, as not one but three of his shows hit our screens in the coming weeks.
He talks to Janice Butler about his year-long 50th birthday celebrations, finding success through failure, soaking up family time and why he’s not ready to jump back on the airwaves just yet.
I’ve spoken to Baz Ashmawy quite a few times over the years, about quite a few projects, and if I’ve learned anything about him, it’s that he’s never idle. As he says himself, he "gets bored easily."
Between working on the much-loved DIY SOS, hosting the family-friendly game show The Money List and pouring his heart and soul into writing and acting in his 'baby’, the family comedy-drama, Faithless. All this, while parenting his six children with his partner, Tania.
Baz first came to our notice over 20 years ago as a TV presenter and radio host, and he has since become a man of many hats and talents. He wouldn’t want it any other way.
When we catch up, he’s "hiding in his car" on the set of DIY SOS: The Big Build, which will be returning to our screens in October. "It's busy, busy, busy, but all is good," he laughs. "We’re in Wicklow, on day six of nine, so it’s fairly hectic, but all is going well," he says.
"I love this show. With all the crap that’s going on in the world and all the heartbreak, you can lose faith, but then you come on this show and you’re surrounded by the best of people, who are doing everything for these families. It’s good for the soul," he adds.
That’s another thing I’ve learned about Baz: he always seems to find the positives in life and his work brings him a lot of joy.
"I get very bored, I can’t do the same thing for too long unless I really enjoy it. It’s why I do so many different things. I like to switch it up, but every time DIY SOS comes back around, I’m delighted because I think I get more from it than I ever put into it," he remarks.
Growing up in South Dublin with his mother, Nancy, who he describes as a "special person", Baz had ambitions to be an actor, but it didn’t pan out, and he ultimately took the path of TV presenter.
"I was always ambitious; I was always that kid who wanted to be on telly," he admits. Following the success of the Emmy-winning, 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy, which first aired in 2014, Baz’s career went from strength to strength. Not willing to wait for jobs to come to him, he carved his own path, writing and producing shows like Baz: The Lost Muslim, All Bets Are Off, and Wingman. He says that the failures in his career have shaped him into the entertainer he is today.
"One of my kids said to me recently, ‘You’ve been lucky, Dad,’ and I said, ‘I haven’t been lucky; I’ve just failed more times,’ and that’s kind of the truth," he laughs.
"A while back in my career, I got to the stage where I realised I’m not just a presenter and that I needed to produce stuff and stretch myself a little further. I need to drop myself into an uncomfortable place every now and then.
"You could easily just present and not do anything else and be happy and get by, but for me, I like to push myself. I’m not afraid of failing and things not working out. I just don’t have that fear. I’ve only really learned from making mistakes in the past. You gotta push and put yourself out there and be creative if you want to have longevity in this industry," he adds.
It’s for these reasons that he says he doesn’t feel quite ready to look at returning to radio full-time (he once co-hosted Weekend Breakfast with Baz & Lucy on RTÉ 2fm in 2010). With quite a few high-profile slots currently available on Irish radio, his name has been thrown around a lot, but it’s not the right time.
"With radio, you’d have to sacrifice a lot of telly work to do it full-time. I did think, I’ll get to 50 and I’ll do a radio show and be happy out, but there’s still so much I want to do, so I just don’t feel it’s the right time yet," he explains.
"I love radio as a medium, but I can only really focus on one thing at a time, so I don’t feel I could do a daily radio show unless I could fully commit and do my best with it. So radio would be a big decision. I’m not saying I wouldn’t, but at the moment I just don’t know, I’m so busy with telly stuff and I love it."
The Money List, the game show in which two teams of complete strangers are challenged to fill in missing answers on a list to win a wad of cash, will be back on our screens this week with Baz at the helm. He describes it as "great craic," and it’s obvious Baz loves the banter with the contestants.
"All the reasons Irish people should never be on telly are all the reasons Irish people should always be on telly!" he laughs. "It’s an easy-watching show for all the family. The contestants are just the craic, and some of them are mad as wasps. I just like people, so anything like this is right up might street," he says.
He celebrated a roundy birthday this year, turning 50 in April. While he says he didn’t have plans for a big party, he’s ended up having many small parties, spanning the summer.
"I had one with some friends and family, and then I just kept having them. I highly recommend people making it a year-long celebration," he laughs.
"Fifty is so different to what I thought it was going to be like. I thought I’d be a lot more grown up by now ," he laughs. "I feel like I want to do more than ever."
He says that turning 50 was an opportunity to reflect on where he's at, not only career-wise but with his family and most importantly his children; he has two young daughters (Hanna and Mahy) with partner Tania and four stepchildren who are the centre of his life.
"I feel like my kids are getting so big, and that’s thrown me a bit. My little baby went into first year this year, and the other is gone into transition year. I just can’t believe it. It goes by so fast. So, I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can.
"I’m working hard, but the time I have off, I’m having a really good time with my family and friends. The summer was spent going around with the kids, weekends away, going to festivals, Oasis concerts, just lots of magical and memorable moments. I’m a happy dad at the moment. They’re all doing so well and I’m very content."
He was surprised that the milestone age also left him reflecting on his relationship with his own dad, Mohammed. Baz was eight when his Egyptian father left home and the two never had a close relationship.
"My own dad died when he was only 52. It always stuck in my head – and my grandad died around the same age – so it’s been a number in my head," he says.
"I think about my dad and me and how different we are in ways. I think I've enjoyed being a dad much more than he ever got to. It’s a different attitude, I’ve just embraced it, but you’d have to: being a parent is so hard, it’s so all-consuming, but there’s moments you have when they get a little bit older and you think this is great, I like spending time with them," Baz adds.
His mother Nancy (made famous by 50 Way to Kill Your Mammy) is the constant in his life. She’s gone to the Canaries for the winter, and he plans to visit her when work has settled down to get his "Nancy fix".
"I always feel better after being with her. There’s not many people in your life who make you feel like that, but she’s just always been like that, since I was a boy, just a very positive person."
He’s not surprised by the lasting effect of 50 Ways… in which he put her through the mill in the name of entertainment. "People still say to me, ‘Baz, no offence, but your mam’s our favourite’" he laughs.
"Anyone who knows me or knows Nancy, has always known that Nancy has always been a legend and when I put her on telly, everyone had the same reaction to her. But she’s just one of those people, she has something special about her. I’m very grateful for her."
The final piece in his trifecta of work coming out in the coming weeks is season two of his hit dark comedy Faithless. The show, which has been picked up globally, was a project ten years in the making for Baz. It centres around Sam, an Irish-Egyptian solo parent grappling with life following the death of his wife, caring for his three daughters while dealing with his hapless family members.
"I’m very excited for people to see season two. I always wanted to show a bit of representation with this show. I’m not forcing anything down people’s necks, but I wanted to say, this is what an Irish family looks like, also and people related to it, thankfully," he says.
His youngest two daughters are extras this season, and his stepdaughter, Amelia , who has been studying acting in Birmingham, has a larger role. Baz says he made sure that when she was auditioning for the role that people didn’t know she was related to him, to ensure she got it on her own merit.
"She’s brilliant, and I was so proud of her. I’ve never handed my kids this world of entertainment because I think it’s really hard and you have to have a very strong chin for it." Thankfully they really, they liked her. I’m incredibly proud of her; she’s much more talented than I ever was," he adds.
And in true Baz fashion, it seems working on this labour of love has given him the itch to do more, to stretch himself further.
"It’s funny because I only wrote to act because I knew no one would give me a part," he laughs.
"But dare I say that I now think I like writing more. I love writing dialogue. So, part of me wouldn’t mind writing a play or another series. I don’t know, it’s something for me to think about, another thing to work on."
