Rory Cowan has played Mrs Brown’s son Rory for a whopping 26 years.
But he has now quit the show after revealing that he has not been happy for over two years.
Having played the role for the last time on stage at London’s O2 last night, he has refused to confess his reasons for leaving the show – only saying that he was unhappy.
Rory Cowan has worked on the show for almost 30 years.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, he said: “I hadn’t been happy working for the Mrs Brown’s Boys company for the last 18 months to two years.
“I feel that 26 years is enough so I decided it was time to go. I told Brendan on 16 June about my decision to leave.
“That’s when I handed in my notice.
“I was supposed to leave at the end of that week, but Brendan [O’Carroll, the creator and star of the show] said that would be impossible and asked if I’d stay on until the end of the London O2 gigs. So I agreed to that.”
Cowan and O’Carroll were in New Zealand for a live show in 2016.
The actor added that he did not want a big fuss or party on his departure, instead opting for a low-key dinner with some friends.
Saying that he “left the way I wanted to go”, he cryptically added: “I’m not going into details about why I was unhappy. I did the final show, packed my stuff into a small Waitrose plastic bag and just left the venue.”
As well as staring in the show, Cowan is also O’Carroll’s publicist, and worked for bands like Queen before working for the Mrs Brown’s Boys creator.
During the cast’s tour to New Zealand in 2016, Cowan told New Zealand Woman’s Weekly he was often on the receiving end of O’Carroll’s impromptu rants or requests, because he laughs easily.
“When Mrs Brown goes off on one, I’m sitting right beside her. I start laughing and I have to keep saying to myself, ‘Rory, you’re in the show, you’re not at the show’.”
The cast, which also features O’Carroll’s wife and children, travels together, accompanied by nine children under nine, three nannies and a chef. Like any family, they have disagreements, but don’t let them interfere with the show, O’Carroll told the Weekly.
“We’re not the Waltons, but we never take it on stage,” he said. “Once you get on stage everything just dissipates and you think what are we arguing about?”
