GAA legend Philly McMahon gets emotional filming The…

GAA legend Philly McMahon gets emotional filming The Restaurant as he reflects on father's death

GAA legend Philly McMahon was emotional filming The Restaurant as he put his heart and soul in a menu devoted to his life and his late father.

The Dublin football star is in the kitchen on Tuesday night on the Virgin Media One show with a menu full of childhood nostalgic dishes from coddle to cream buns.

He told Irish Daily Mirror: “This menu represents my whole existence, of who I am and who I’ve been around.”

But he told how his guest appearance on the show was long awaited and bittersweet, after turning down the chance to take part four years ago just before his father Phil passed away after a battle with cancer.

The father of one said: “I was always a big fan of The Restaurant, and I was asked to do it before in 2018 and I couldn’t because my dad was terminally ill at that stage.

“But once I got asked to do it again I said I'm going to do it, and I'm going to have a mixture of who I am from North Dublin, and my dad’s background in Belfast and bits of myself and my wife and what we like eating. One of the desserts was from our wedding.

“So I got a little bit emotional speaking about my dad but like that will show you food can really bring you back to your childhood. It is incredible.”

The eight-time All-Ireland winner from Ballymun, 35, said he put his competitive aside for the show - instead aiming to use it to show the real him through his food.

“The one thing that mattered to me wasn’t really about competition, but to be able to show the real me,” he explained.

“Don’t be something I'm not. So there was a hesitancy at the beginning,

would a coddle give ya stars in this type of thing, or is it for a fine dining restaurant, but little things like that I wanted it to be true to me.

“And if I’ll only get one shot at this, I want it to have authenticity, and I hope that comes through.

“It was nice to hear Marco Pierre White talk about his own childhood and that the coddle brought him back.

“In life it is all about experiences, and if food can bring you back to your childhood I think that is special food for you.”

And the footballer and businessman, who runs his own food company Nutriquick, said he was ‘blown away’ by the level of effort and skill put in behind the scenes of the show.

And between the long day perfecting his dishes, and the sentiment of the menu, he said he couldn’t help but feel every emotion on the night.

“You have to remember that you are not only physically fatigued during the day you are also emotionally fatigued because you are speaking about someone that you lost that you loved and special memories in terms of your wedding and stuff like that so you don’t realise this build-up of emotions and then that hits you when you are tired and that for me is the experience of it.

“I don’t think everyone will go there but that’s where I wanted to go, particularly because the last time I wanted to do it, I couldn’t because of my dad.”

“I have to say it was an amazing experience and I didn’t think I'd enjoy it as much as I did.

“So yeah, I was blown away. I was saying to the chefs I'll never complain about my food being late again.

“It was like a sport, you have all these tactics and technical ability to go and put a performance on. And that’s what it is like in the kitchen. It’s just incredible to watch.”