Brendan O’Connor has opened up about how he coped with the loss of his older brother and ‘mentor’ 15 years ago.
The chat show host is set to return to our screens this Wednesday with his award-winning show, Cutting Edge, where he will be joined by three opinionated panelists who will look at what has the nation talking.
The Cork native’s show won the award for Best Entertainment at last week’s IFTAs and he was elated over the win.
“I have an outsider attitude so it was nice to win something which was voted for by our peers.” he told the Irish Sun.
The seasoned presenter has revealed that he believes some of the lows he’s had to face in his life have made him more relatable to the guests on his show.
One particular heartache Brendan had to deal with was the loss of his older brother to a heart condition at a young age.
“My brother Brian died quite young.” he told the Irish Sun.“He was my mentor. I shared a room with him and he filled me full of books and music. I guess in the family, he was the guy most like me. He got sick, to do with his heart, and eventually died.”
“It was about 15 years ago. It was tough because this person had been with me since I was very young. I wasn’t a kid when he died but, you know, with your older brother, you’re always a kid with them.”
Brendan admitted that he found it hard to cope with his death and didn’t grieve when it initially happened.
“It was a shock because you weren’t expecting someone to die.”he said.”I didn’t know what to do when it happened. It was a haze.I didn’t go through a grieving process or anything. I wouldn’t say I opted out but I went to ground for a while, went flat for a while.”
