The latest drama to put a spanner in the works is the news that Brendan's daughter Fiona O’Carroll, who plays Maria Brow, has split from her husband and co-star Martin Delany, who plays Trevor Brown, in the hit show.
Speaking about the split in RTE Guide, Fiona revealed: “Myself and Martin met very young. I was 16, and I suppose he’s all I’ve ever known and we just kind of grew apart.”
She added that the couple, who have four children together “wanted different things”.
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“There were no major fights, and nobody else was involved but it was a case of not being on the same page any longer," she added. “I think I hung on for as long as I did because when my own parents broke up, that was very public, and there was a lot of hurt involved there.”
The sad news comes as the BBC One sitcom will return to our screens for not just one but two festive specials this year, although whether the show will reflect Fiona and Martin’s split remains to be seen.
Without further ado, here's everything you need to know about how the cast of the hit BBC comedy related.
Agnes Brown - Brendan O'Carroll
The titular mammy is the daddy of the family and father to Danny O'Carroll who plays Buster, and Fiona O'Carroll who plays Maria. His sister Eilish plays next door neighbour Winnie, his wife Jennifer plays daughter Cathy, and his real-life grandson, Jamie O'Carroll, plays Mrs Brown's grandson, Bono.
His on screen daughter-in-law Betty (Amanda Woods) is his real life daughter-in-law (she's married to Danny aka Buster), while TV son Trevor (Martin Delany) is actually his son-in-law (married to Fiona O'Carroll aka Maria), and his sister-in-law plays Winnie's daughter, Sharon.
Winnie McGoogan - Eilish O'Carroll
Next door neighbour Winnie may be Agnes' best pal on screen but in real life she's Brendan O'Carroll's sister.
Eilish is Maria (Fiona O'Carroll) and Buster's (Danny O'Carroll) real-life aunt, and Cathy aka Jennifer Gibney's sister-in-law, while her on-screen daughter Sharon, is actually Jennifer Gibney's off screen sister.
She's also grand aunt to Bono Brown (Jamie Carroll).
Cathy Brown - Jennifer Gibney
Mrs Brown's on-screen daughter is actually Brendan O'Carroll's wife, making her Buster (Danny O'Carroll) and Maria's real-life stepmother and Bono's off-screen step-grandmother.
Winnie (Eilish) is her sister-in-law, Mrs Brown's son Trevor is her son-in-law by marriage, and Mark's wife Betty is her daughter-in-law by marriage.
Plus Winnie's daughter, Sharon, is her real-life sister.
Buster Brady - Danny O'Carroll
The on-screen troublemaker is Brendan O'Carroll's real-life son, making him Maria's (Fiona O'Carroll) real-life brother, Cathy's (Jennifer Gibney) stepson, and Winnie's nephew.
His wife, Amanda, plays Betty Brown, while his son, Jamie, is Bono Brown, and his real-life brother-in-law Martin Delany plays Mrs Brown's youngest son, Trevor.
Oh, and his real-life best friend Paddy Houlihan plays Mrs Brown's other son, Dermot.
Maria Brown – Fiona O’Carroll
Mrs Brown's on-screen daughter-in-law Maria is actually Brendan's daughter, Fiona O'Carroll - or Fiona Delany to call her by her married name. That makes Jennifer Gibney (Cathy) her stepmum, Eilish O'Carroll (Winnie) her aunt and Buster (Danny O'Carroll) her brother.
Little Bono Brown is actually her nephew, Jamie, while her sister-in-law, Amanda Woods, is Betty Brown.
Oh, and her husband, Martin Delany, plays Mrs Brown's son Trevor, which is far from ideal following the off-screen couple's recent split, which Fiona announced on Tuesday 7th December 2021. Eek!
Trevor Brown – Martin Delany
Mrs Brown's youngest son is played by O'Carroll's son-in-law, Martin Delany, who is married to Fiona O'Carroll - his on-screen sister-in-law.
That makes him Buster's (Danny O'Carroll) brother-in-law and uncle to Bono (Jamie O'Carroll) Brown.
Betty Brown – Amanda Woods
Mrs Brown's on-screen daughter-in-law is actually Brendan's daughter-in-law off screen too, as she's married to Buster (Danny O'Carroll) Brady in real life.
She's Maria (Fiona O'Carroll) Brown's sister-in-law, and she's mum to Bono (Jamie O'Carroll) Brown both on and off screen.
Bono Brown – Jamie O’Carroll
Mrs Brown's grandson, Bono, is Brendan O'Carroll's real-life grandson, Jamie O'Carroll.
His real mum (Amanda Woods) plays his on-screen mum, Betty Brown, while his dad is actually Buster Brady (Danny O'Carroll).
That makes him Maria (Fiona O'Carroll) Brown's nephew and Eilish O'Carroll's (Winnie) grand-nephew.
Rory Brown - Damien McKiernan
The new Rory is played by Damien McKiernan, a friend of the family who took over the role from Rory Cowan in the 2017 Christmas special.
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Mrs Brown's Boys returns on Christmas Day (Saturday 25th December 2021) at 10.20pm on BBC One.
