Francis Brennan has revealed that his ‘life fell apart’ after losing a substantial amount of money during the recession.
The famous hotelier, best known for heading up RTE show At Your Service, says that his roles in media contributed to his ‘survival’ following a bad business deal back in the early 2000’s.
“I wanted to retire at 55 but my life fell apart because of the recession,” the 66-year-old told RSVP live.
“I lost a lot of money, you would be a very happy person if you had the money I lost. I never looked back and I don’t blame anybody, I signed on those lines but things just didn’t work out and I lost a fortune.
“As it happened, the lord, who is my friend, gave me a new career at 54 and I sailed through the recession.
“I have always had a job, developers and other business owners didn’t have an income but I always had money coming in because I had both the hotel and media work.
“There is no doubt that TV contributed to my survival, I will put it that way,” he explained.
“There was an income from media while I was losing out in other places.”
The star, who owns the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare, Co. Kerry with his brother John, previously opened up about his love life, and admitted he regretted letting his career stand in the way.
“I dedicated myself to the business. If I had a regret, it would be to have had a relationship,” Francis told The Irish Sun back in 2017.
“I’m 42 years in the hotel business, 12 years on TV, I’m doing my third book and I do a travel show. I’m kind of busy — ferociously busy. I’ve never not worked or had time off.”
