Donncha O'Callaghan has admitted he is glad he is "out the other side" after his shock departure from 2fm during the summer.
The Ireland's Fittest Family coach was part of a mass exodus that also saw Jennifer Zamparelli, The 2 Johnnies and his breakfast co-star Doireann Garrihy leave the station.
Opening up for the first time about his decision to leave, he confessed that he found the schedule to be very demanding and it was a huge energy requirement.
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Donncha said: “I’m glad that I did it, and that I’m out the other side of it.”
He told Life Magazine: “I was incredibly lucky as I know how difficult it is for people to get roles like that. And for me to come in from a sports background isn’t the norm, so I can’t thank them enough.
"I genuinely loved it. It was such an education. I remember having a row with a rugby friend of mine and I was making the example that it was all matches and no training.
"You could practice all your ins and outs, but there is nothing like the red light of live, a caller dropping or making changes on the fly."
Donncha linked up with Doireann and Carl Mullan in May 2021 following Eoghan McDermott's exit from the station and he didn't know how full on the role was going to be.
He said: "I didn’t really know it, early on, but it was a huge energy requirement. It’s not only the three hours of presenting every day, and we used to joke that it was an all-day breakfast.
"So you might have set upon the show at 12 o’clock, then Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury have a spat at three o’clock. Then you’re changing things around.
"That gets set until at 11 o’clock that night someone calls somebody an eejit; everything gets switched around again.”
Donncha found his time commitment to 2fm very hard and he praised Today FM legend Ian Dempsey for his three decades on breakfast radio.
“I was finding it, without wanting to sound lazy, very demanding. Like, I look at someone like Ian Dempsey and I feel like genuflecting.
"Anyone that sees that man should hug him. To have done what he has done [presenting breakfast shows] for well over 30 years is amazing.
"The standard in Ireland is through the roof and we probably don’t celebrate these people enough. Irish people love conversation and stories. They love a good storyteller and we have the best in the business, at it.”
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