![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5032679_8_articleinline_9O0A1167_20_1_.jpg\" "\\"One")
One thing Courtney likes \u2014 no, loves \u2014 is interiors.<\/p>\n\u201cEvery time I\u2019m driving to a shoot, I talk to him. Have a little chat,\u201d says Brendan Courtney. \u201cPeople think I\u2019m crazy. I say to him, \u2018make sure I\u2019m doing this right, give me a sign!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the late Hugh Wallace\u2019s innate mischievousness, it\u2019s not hard, somehow, to imagine the architect finding a way to \u201cdrop something from the ceiling\u201d to let his friend know he\u2019s completing the final episodes of The Great House Revival to Wallace\u2019s satisfaction.<\/p>\n
Wallace, a true national treasure, was in the middle of shooting season six of the show when he died unexpectedly on December 1 last year.<\/p>\n
The Friday before, Courtney, Wallace, and Wallace\u2019s husband Martin Corbett had enjoyed the evening out together and, as Courtney drove home that night, he recalls telling himself: \u201cI need to spend more time with Hugh and Martin. I really love them. They\u2019re just great people.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there was to be no more time. The following Monday, as a stand-in host on Oliver Callan\u2019s show, Courtney would share the news of Wallace\u2019s death on air, pay heartfelt tribute to his friend, then facilitate others in doing so.<\/p>\n
The 18-minute segment was a masterclass in professionalism under difficult circumstances, and Courtney\u2019s authenticity and warmth shone through the broadcast.<\/p>\n
Like Wallace, Courtney is a people person, a talented TV presenter, and hugely passionate about design.<\/p>\n
\n Hugh\u2019s main job was a designer who became a TV presenter, and I\u2019m a TV presenter and became a designer. We had different angles on things, and we would discuss at length things we liked, things we didn\u2019t like.\n <\/p>\n
One thing Courtney likes \u2014 no, loves \u2014 is interiors. To date, he\u2019s done three home renovations (his late dad, Frank, was a builder, so revamping is in the blood), the most recent being his house in Wicklow, which he\u2019d just moved into when a car crashed into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was the acknowledgement that it\u2019s bricks and mortar and everybody\u2019s OK,\u201d he says now. \u201cBut it was tough to move back out. I had just moved in. It was a very unsure time.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a stroke of luck that he had a builder already booked to do an extension to the back. \u201cHe said: \u2018Look, just move out and we\u2019ll just do the whole lot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Another bit of luck was having somewhere to move into. He\u2019d bought his city centre penthouse apartment from Nama after the crash for \u20ac235,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cNama nearly blocked the sale,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to get really aggressive with the banks and bought it in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing Courtney likes \u2014 no, loves \u2014 is interiors.<\/p>\n
He loved his years living there, but had decided it was time to move on. He was about to sell and relocate full-time to Wicklow when the accident happened.<\/p>\n
When we speak, the painters are in the Wicklow house, so he\u2019s hoping to move back imminently. He\u2019s beyond excited about the house, and the new extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really lovely,\u201d Courtney says. \u201cI\u2019ve done a good job, I have to say. I designed it myself. I loved it. Home and interiors and renovations are absolutely where my heart and head is.\u201d<\/p>\n
He worked with an architect on the original renovations but, for this iteration, it\u2019s all him. The confidence to have taken it on comes, he says, \u201cfrom my design background\u201d, pointing out that \u201cdesign is a language\u201d, and clearly it is one he speaks fluently.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s just done a garden furniture collaboration with EZ Living Interiors, and is bursting with enthusiasm for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely gorgeous,\u201d he tells me, and he\u2019s not wrong. The \u201cblossoms in Japan\u201d were his inspiration for the \u201ccompletely sustainable\u201d range of garden furniture, which is crafted from acacia wood. It\u2019s incredibly versatile in that it is designed to work as well indoors as it does outdoors. The beautiful wipe-clean, waterproof cushions are \u201cNancy-friendly\u201d \u2014 a reference to his beloved Jack Russell-pug-chihuahua Nancy Drew \u2014 \u201cand they\u2019re really comfortable\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Brendan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5032685_7_articleinline_mb-EZliving-2026-03-24-004_20_1_1_.jpg\" "\\"Brendan")
Brendan Courtney: The \u201cblossoms in Japan\u201d were his inspiration for the \u201ccompletely sustainable\u201d range of garden furniture. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n
The collection has turned out \u201ceven nicer than I anticipated,\u201d he says, adding that \u201cto complement it, EZ Living Interiors let me curate my own interior accessories of cushions and glassware bits [from their range]\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Some](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5032664_9_articleinline_mb-EZliving-2026-03-24-044_1_.jpg\" "\\"Some")
Some of Brendan Courtney and EZ Living Interiors’ range. Pictures: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n
Courtney\u2019s enthusiasm for the project is wholly genuine, and that authentic ebullience is something he\u2019s carried with him from day one, when he burst onto Irish TV screens in 1999 as the host of Wanderlust \u2014 an ahead-of-its-time hybrid of online dating (via chatrooms) and travel. The format was Courtney\u2019s idea, and he went on to sell it to 19 countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the words I would use about myself, looking back on my career, is fearless because my parents were fearless,\u201d he says, explaining that by fearless, he means he wasn\u2019t afraid of a \u201cweek or two\u201d of unemployment, and had faith that \u201csomething would come up\u201d.<\/p>\n
His approach was to \u201cgive things a go and have the confidence to say \u2018it\u2019ll work out\u2019. And it did\u201d.<\/p>\n
Many would certainly have considered it fearless, or perhaps foolhardy, to quit a salaried job back in 1996, but that\u2019s what Courtney did when he left his production assistant post on Riverdance .<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t in the area I wanted to be in. I wanted to work in television. And so I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following his heart to do \u201cmore creative work\u201d and being fearless, has paid off.<\/p>\n
Wanderlust (which he gutsily pitched to RT\u00c9 as a non-negotiable package with himself as host) saw him dubbed \u201cRT\u00c9\u2019s new Cilla\u201d but, with no shade to the late Liverpudlian icon, he\u2019s proven himself to be much more than that.<\/p>\n
He has tackled the big topics of our time \u2014 housing and healthcare \u2014 with the latter resulting in work that he is most proud of, his 2017 documentary We Need To Talk About Dad . He\u2019s \u201cstill surprised\u201d his dad Frank \u2014 \u201ca very private man\u201d \u2014 agreed to take part, but he did, and did so \u201cwholeheartedly\u201d, Courtney says, and they \u201chad a ball making it within a very dark time\u201d.<\/p>\n
Frank had suffered a second stroke; the documentary followed the family as they navigated accessing options for his full-time care.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last year of his life, because of the documentary, made us really close.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to really get to know each other and it was a real gift of a thing to be able to do,\u201d Courtney says now.<\/p>\n
(He has continued to advocate for the Government to better support families who want to care for older loved ones at home. Currently, the fair deal scheme is designed to support nursing home care only.)<\/p>\n
One evening, while filming We Need to Talk About Dad , Courtney remembers going home to his city centre apartment and having the realisation that he needed to plan for the future and move.<\/p>\n
\u201cFive floors up. In the middle of the city centre. It\u2019s not a place to grow old,\u201d he says of his fabulous penthouse, from the balcony of which he can see across to the Phoenix Park\u2019s Wellington Monument.<\/p>\n
It takes maturity to realise it is time to move on, and that current circumstances aren\u2019t serving you, but Courtney has always been an evolved creature.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been single \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m absolutely not looking\u201d \u2014 since September 2024, when he and Adam Maryniak ended their decade-long relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually Adam who called it,\u201d says Courtney.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both knew it but, at the end of the day, it was him who sat down and said: \u2018Look, let\u2019s talk.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore he even said a word, I said: \u2018I agree.\u2019 We were both immediately on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newly single Courtney decided he wanted \u201ca year of just \u2026 clarity. And a year of just, keeping things simple, see what happens. No pressure, learning to love myself, keeping things simple. So I\u2019m not even dating at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The break-up was, he says, \u201cvery mature. It was really full of love\u201d. The two have remained best friends, holidayed together last year, and \u201cAdam comes over nearly every other day to mind the dog\u201d.<\/p>\n
Maryniak is \u201cdating somebody at the moment and I\u2019m really happy for him,\u201d Courtney says.<\/p>\n
That clear-eyed approach extends to planning for his old age. His parents were of a generation that didn\u2019t plan for the possibility they might, in their elder years, need full-time care, and all the implications that come with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI forgive them, but it was very difficult at the time because they weren\u2019t prepared, they weren\u2019t making decisions. I\u2019d kind of like to think I\u2019ve learned a little bit from that, and I\u2019ll try and prepare. I\u2019m quite comfortable with the thought that I might have to go into a nursing home, and I\u2019ll try and be involved in the selection of that. I\u2019ve asked one of my nephews to be my enduring power of attorney. Not planning actually becomes a real hardship for your family and children to manage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that planning has been the move to Wicklow and the renovation of the house, which is now fully future-proofed. It\u2019s all on one level, his bedroom has double doors, \u201call the showers are walk-in showers now. And it\u2019s fully wheelchair accessible\u201d, he says, adding: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a driving force, but it was consideration when I was designing it: \u2018Is this a house that you can grow old in?\u2019 It actually really is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another home-related venture he has on the go is property podcast My First Home and, like all things Courtney, it has its finger firmly on the pulse of what\u2019s current.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do these first-time buyers events all the time,\u201d he says, \u201cwhere people come and we have a panel, an estate agent, a lawyer, someone from a mortgage adviser, and we talk about how you get onto the ladder. To spice things up at the end, I\u2019d say to the panel: \u2018And what was your first time?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time, the crowd would just sit up and engage really intensely, because people were looking for stories of hope, stories of people who\u2019ve done it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The podcast, which has first-hand stories of people who\u2019ve saved that deposit, got that mortgage, and bought their first home, along with expert tips, is flying it \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s No 1 on the leisure [charts]\u201d.<\/p>\n
When asked what his ambitions are for the future, his answer is unexpected. \u201cI have lots of ambitions, big ambitions, but my main ambition is to try and learn and maintain inner peace and happiness. All of the external things and all of the external achievements in my life that I thought would make me happy didn\u2019t. What actually makes me happy is kindness, love, honesty, and openness.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I\u2019m moving into my 50s, I look around and I really think about what makes me happy, and what makes me happy is really simple things. Walking my dog. Swimming in the sea. Being kind. I suppose my ambitions, as the world is really dark, is just to try and everyday share kindness in some way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s it really, the biggest thing, and if the work that I get to do, and then make a living doing, can in some way showcase or inspire some sort of kindness, that\u2019s really my ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n