350,000 snap up tickets as Australia calls for Mrs Brown
Brendan and the cast of his hit comedy, Mrs Brown’s Boys, were thrilled when they took the gong at the prestigious awards ceremony in London’s O2 arena.
“I was expecting Ricky Gervais to win with Derek. I voted for him. I also thought it would be someone else’s turn to win.”
Gervais had mounted a massive campaign for his Derek show, roping in superstar pop pals Coldplay to urge their fans to vote for him.
Another hot favourite was the American comedy show the Big Bang Theory. But nothing could stop the fiery Dublin grandmother from success. And Mrs Brown’s Boys won out in the end — to the delight of the cast and crew, who all attended the bash.
It was the second year in a row for Mrs Brown to take the top comedy gong and Brendan said it would be taking pride of place on the mantlepiece of his home in Florida, to which he returned yesterday.
“Family and friends can all come over and look at it and the other awards. I might even let them hold it. Everyone wanted to get it for four days, but that’s not going to happen.”
He said Mrs Brown gets away with using bad language on television because she is a 70-year-old grandmother.
“At 70 you just don’t care, you can get away with anything.”
He also joked about the Radio Times giving away a pattern for fans to knit their own version of Mrs Brown’s famous cardigan.
There is already plenty of Mrs Brown’s Boys merchandise to buy online or at their live shows.
And Brendan, 58, said he was still reeling from the massive viewing figures for the show on Christmas Day (15.6m) and New Year’s Day (15.2m).
And he said that their next stop is a huge Australian tour in three weeks time.
“Watch out for us in Australia. I can’t believe that 350,000 people there have already bought tickets for the shows.”
And Brendan’s manager Rory Cowan revealed how the big-hearted comic had paid for all 28 members of the cast and crew to attend the O2 black tie bash.
“We had a big party back at the Landmark Hotel which went on until the small hours. It was a great night, now we’re all looking forward to Australia after taking a short break, although Brendan will keep writing new material.”
