Brendan O’Connor has revealed that he has to hold back when he sees people staring at his daughter, Mary, on the street.
The Cutting Edge host, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, has admitted his celebrity status means that he has to bite his tongue when he sees people fix their gaze on her – however his wife, Sarah Caden, has no problem letting her feelings be known.
“I stare back, and have taken to telling people, ‘It’s rude to stare’, or I’d also say something like ‘Have you had a good look?’” he told the Irish Sun.
“The thing is, I can’t be too aggressive because I’m on the telly. My wife can be more aggressive about it. The most depressing thing is that sometimes it’s teenagers staring, and you’d have thought older kids would know better.”
However, Brendan prefers to focus on the joy his seven-year-old brings him and his wife.
“She is such a great kid and so happy. You try and focus on that.” he said.
“Lately she’s started listening to the Fatboy Slim song Where U Iz, (is where it’s at) and doing a little dance to go with it that could be straight out of that Spike Jones Praise You video of people dancing in the the cinema queue.
“It’s that’s joyful. It’s an up-down world for everybody but Mary is very happy.”
