RTE star Francis Brennan has said that his life "fell apart" after he lost a sizeable amount of money during the recession.
But TV work and his profound faith saved him from financial ruin.
The popular hotelier lost a massive sum of money in his 50's forcing him to reevaluate his work situation and focus on his new-found career in the media.
Francis told RSVP Live: "I wanted to retire at 55 but my life fell apart because of the recession. I lost a lot of money, you would be a very happy person if you had the money I lost.
"I never looked back and I don’t blame anybody, I signed on those lines but things just didn’t work out and I lost a fortune.
"As it happened, the lord, who is my friend, gave me a new career at 54 and I sailed through the recession."
But the 66-year-old is not bitter about the financial loss he dealt with and he counts himself lucky saying that other people were not as fortunate.
He said: "I have always had a job, developers and other business owners didn’t have an income but I always had money coming in because I had both the hotel and media work."
Despite numerous RTE shows and bestselling books, Francis doesn't see himself as a celebrity and he would happily give up TV work.
He explained: "There is no doubt that TV contributed to my survival, I will put it that way. There was an income from media while I was losing out in other places.
"I couldn’t care less if I never did another days work in the media but people enjoy that I can project a positive image.
"When I am doing that, I know that I may be helping people who have issues or are feeling a little bit down."
Car brand SKODA Ireland announced its new age diversity initiative called Simply Older, Still Clever and Francis has no plans to slow down and retire.
He joked: "It will probably never happen! There is another 14 years until I am 80 and I would love to get there."
Despite regularly appearing on The Late Late Show and various radio slots, as well as At Your Service and the most recent Francis Brennan – All Hands on Deck, Francis says that he is actually a shy person.
"I am not full of confidence," he said "I know, I know, you won’t believe it! My personality is shy but I just get on with things.
"I project a very confident person but in reality I am shy."
