Mrs Brown's Boys Russia deal scrapped over gay character
A deal to air Mrs Brown's Boys in Russia was rejected by creator Brendan O'Carroll because they wanted to cut out a gay character.
The actor and creator of the show explained how they were close to securing a deal in the country, though he drew the line when they didn't want to include gay character Rory.
"They didn't want any gay, Russia in particular," O'Carroll told RTE Radio 1 (via Metro).
"It was a nice little deal, it's a big country so the fee you'd charge for the licensing is audience-related, so it's a big audience and it would have been a nice fee.
"But no gay, absolutely no gay. So I said, 'no gay, no show'. And that was it."
He also revealed how Romania wanted to do the same, though managed to come around to not cutting Rory out.
"Romania threatened [to cut the gay character out], but then went ahead with it," O'Carroll continued.
"What they've done is, the Rory character is the Rory character and he's still gay, but they never mention that he's gay. But it's still Rory."
O'Carroll added: "The comedian that does Mrs Brown in Romania, he doesn't even bother trying to put on a voice!"
Earlier this year, Rory actor Rory Cowan left Mrs Brown's Boys, revealing that he "hadn't been happy" on the show.
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