Colin Murphy: 'I've always worked for myself'

This Much I Know: "My proudest achievement is that I’ve been pig-headed enough to still be doing what I’m doing, 30 years later"

Colin Murphy: "You hear the words coming out of your mouth and you think ‘I never thought I’d say that’."

I grew up in Downpatrick in Co Down. It was just me, my mum, my dad, and my sister. I was a shy child, very withdrawn.

I was an ugly sister in the panto when I was about seven. It was an all-boys school and we were in our mums’ nighties. My earliest memory is playing in a cowboy outfit; I watched a lot of westerns and war movies. It’s all about the circumstances. You might have a wee “performance bug” but you know, I came out this way, I could have come out another way. I believe in people being encouraged to do certain things — positive reinforcement helps.