The door may be open for Rory Cowan to return to Mrs Brown's Boys, but the same can’t be said for his former on screen husband.
Brendan O’Carroll opened up about Gary Hollywood’s shocking exit from the show back in 2020.
“He used to call me father. He was part of the family and we haven’t spoken since and haven’t heard a word from him since.”
Read More: Former Mrs Brown's Boys star Rory Cowan teases reunion with Brendan O'Carroll
He may not be calling Brendan father now as he has made shocking claims about the reason for his exit.
The Scot has claimed that he was being paid less than his colleagues on the show.
At the same time, Damien McKiernan, who played Rory Brown, replacing Rory Cowan after he left, also made a shocking exit.
Gary then launched legal action in 2021 against Brendan, the BBC and TV production firm Hungry Bear Media, citing discrimination and unfair dismissal.
In papers lodged with an employment tribunal, the actor claimed he was paid 25% less than his colleagues for his role in All Round to Mrs Brown’s last year.
He has publicly criticised the work environment, claiming the show was like Mrs Brown’s mafia because many of the cast members were O’Carroll’s family members.
The Scot also says he was dropped from one of the two Christmas specials just days before filming started.
Gary later withdrew these statements in June last year during a preliminary hearing.
Brendan admitted the episode has left him puzzled and doesn’t see a way back for the Scots actor, despite his sadness at losing him.
He said: “I think that is it. It was the most bizarre time. I don’t know where it came from. It came out of the blue.
“I got a call from the office to say Gary has been on and wants his flight home to Spain changed to tomorrow.
“I was like, ‘But we haven’t been to Glasgow (where the chat show was being filmed) yet? We are meant to be isolating. We haven’t started yet’.
“He said if he’s not going to be in both episodes he’s not going to do it. But nobody is in both episodes. It’s Covid, I’m trying to spread it around everybody. He knows that.”
“If I’d said to Gary, ‘I want you to come down the stairs naked and I’m going to whack you on the willy,’ he’d have said ‘Sure, no problem.’
“Never said ‘no’. Never. So this came out of the blue. And then he was gone.”
Brendan went on to rebuff claims that Gary wasn’t being paid as much as the others on the show.
“He came back in the press saying he didn’t get paid as much as everyone else. He did. In fact he got more than some because he’d been with us longer.
“He had a new manager so I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. He was saying stuff to us about why he was leaving that didn’t exist.”
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