Declan Donnelly has spoken about his close relationship with elder brother Dermott, who sadly passed away today after battling a serious illness.
I'm A Celebrity host Dec, 46, is the youngest with his other siblings being Patricia, 59, Eamonn, 58, Martin, 57, Moira, 53, and Camelia, 49.
Father Dermott, 55, had officiated at Dec’s wedding to Ali Astall at St Michael’s Church, in Elswick, in 2015, where he had also worked as a priest since 1992.
He was extremely close to Dec as they grew up together in Cruddas Park, in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Their mother Anne has told how the close knit family of seven children had to share a modest three bedroomed house where they lived for more than 30 years.
In his time serving as a priest, Fr Dermott has also set up a youth outreach programme aimed at introducing disadvantaged youngsters to the Catholic Church and was recently pictured in Downing Street after he was invited by Boris Johnson to join religious leaders to pray for peace in Ukraine.
Dermott said at the time: “It was a real privilege to join Christian leaders from across many churches at Downing Street and to stand together in prayer, the silence was so profound.
“It was a moment when the power of vulnerability encountered the vulnerability of power. The best weapon we had was prayer.”
Dec has previously spoken of his close relationship with his brother in the past, and how he considered following him into the priesthood before becoming one of the most popular TV personalities of his generation.
He said: “Growing up was like The Waltons but in Newcastle.
“We all lived in a council house in Cruddas Park in the West End. The house had three bedrooms.
“You don’t need to be a Maths genius to work out that three bedrooms and nine people equals a bit of a squeeze.
“The four boys were in two sets of bunk beds in one room, the three girls were in another and my mam and dad had the third room."
Dec continued: "My mam and dad, Anne and Alphonsus, came to Newcastle from Ireland in 1958.
"You’d often find the Donnelly clan at the Tyneside Irish Centre on a Saturday night and that was where I had my earliest performing experiences.
“Later on my brother Dermott trained to be a priest. When I was about 14 I did briefly consider following in his footsteps.
"Then, one day, I got the bus home from school and it was full of lasses from the local girls’ school, Sacred Heart.
“I knew right there and then that the priesthood wasn’t for me.”
Anne, who is in her 80s, and Dec’s late father Alphonsus, who died in 2011 aged 78, brought up all their children in their three bedroom house in Newcastle after moving from Londonderry to Tyneside.
Anne used to be a housekeeper at the city’s cathedral. In an interview with The Mirror when Dec first rose to fame, she said: “I know that to everyone he is a TV star but to us what he does is just a job - he is just Declan. We are very proud of all our children.”
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