Comedian Des Bishop’s girlfriend would no doubt have been less than impressed with unsavoury comments he made about her on RTE Radio One yesterday – but he laughed it off as she doesn’t speak the language and wouldn’t be able to understand what he said.
Des met his Chinese girlfriend during his second year in her native country, after staying longer than expected when filming wrapped up for RTE series Breaking China, which saw him learning Mandarin.
The New York-born star met Jin Li after appearing on the Chinese version of Take Me Out, and she’s currently staying with him in Ireland, her first time away from home.
When asked by host Kathyrn Thomas, who was filling in for Ray D’Arcy, what their long term plan is as a couple, the funnyman simply said they don’t have one.
“It might not work out,” he admitted. “I didn’t think we would make it through the summer, truth be told.” A surprised Kathryn asked, “Is she listening!?”, to which he replied: “She can’t speak English! It’s no problem, we can say what we want!”
He went on to say that although the pair “get on great”, it’s not an easy relationship. “She’s an actress and there’s not a lot of work for Chinese actresses who can’t speak English in Ireland!” he commented.
The 39-year-old joked that Jin Li could go for a role in the Plough in the Stars, before making a crass remark.
“She could be Rosie, but instead of trying to get Fluther into bed, she could just give him hand jobs. Can I say that on radio?” An unimpressed Kathryn replied: “You just have.”‘
Des tried to backtrack by joking, “Massages I mean. ‘Ah the Chinese one gives a good aul massage!'”
The Irish-American said he would not live in China full-time as “there’s no money to be made”, describing himself as a novelty act with a short shelf life over there. He said home for now is Dublin, although he’s spending more time in New York at the moment as his mother isn’t in the best of health.
