Tommy Tiernan Show recap: Host airs his frustrations with Roy Keane's 'guarded' answers
Roy Keane spoke about his marriage, childhood in Cork and football career on The Tommy Tiernan Show
Tommy Tiernan gets much praise for his ability to explore emotional depths with his surprise guests each week on his chat show, but the first guest of the new season is a tough nut to crack, even for the comedian.
Roy Keane is known for being candid about the beautiful game but quite protective of his personal life, noting during their chat that he is “wary of people crossing a line”, but his guarded response to some questions left the host exasperated on Saturday night’s Tommy Tiernan Show.
The seventh season of the show saw the return of a live audience for the first time since the pandemic started, which many viewers thought may have taken from the intensity of Mr Tiernan’s time with Mr Keane as some of the one-on-one interviews in recent years were more deeply personal.
Mr Tiernan asked the retired footballer about everything from his relationship with his family to his childhood in Cork to his experience with alcohol and his football career. Mr Keane said he feels growing up in Mayfield on Cork’s northside made him competitive.
“I was born to be involved in some sort of level of sport. I was already in that environment of competing with people on the street, obviously, particularly soccer.”
However, when the Keano told him fatherhood wasn’t particularly challenging, the comedian’s frustration became clear. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Mr Tiernan asked in defeat, adding Mr Keane was being “quite guarded”. “Do you want me to do a somersault?” the former Manchester United player joked.
When asked about the early days of his relationship with his now-wife, Theresa, Mr Keane gave a typical short answer: “It was okay.” Elaborating, he went into detail about their first date, which he said went “very badly” as she refused to go to the cinema or for a drink with him.
“I literally drove back to her car. This is all within 10 or 15 minutes. She said ‘what are you doing?’ I said, ‘well, you don't want to go for a drink. You don't want to go to pictures. What else can we do?’ And she got out. I said ‘I might see you next week.’ She said ‘I don't think so’, and slammed the door.
“That was our first date. And we’re still married.”
Mr Tiernan’s second guest of the night was holistic sex educator Jenny Keane, who opened her interview by saying she is not related to Roy Keane but “can talk about balls if you want me to”.
She shared the main issues that men and women come to her with, noting for men it is erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and low libido or lack of interest in sex. Meanwhile, women are concerned about low libido and lack of desire, an inability to orgasm, and pain during sex.
Ms Keane describes her workshops as teaching people to take a whole-body approach to sex to “take the pressure off, and help people move closer to connection and intimacy.”
She delivered in-person workshops up to 2019 but says her move to Zoom for workshops since March 2020 has seen a huge increase in attendees. Her online workshop about delivering oral sex even caused a cucumber shortage nationwide.
“In 2019 I had about 100 women in sex education workshops, last year I had over 20,000 women,” she said.
Ms Keane aims to teach the public about embracing sex, pleasure and body confidence, and becoming more empowered. She said older women attend her workshops and say they wish they had known what Keane is teaching when they were younger.
“When you don't get good quality sex education, you don't have options. When you don't have options, you don't have choice. When you don't have choice, you don't have agency. When you don't have agency, you don't feel empowered. And when you don't feel empowered, you feel broken,” she said.
