Fair City’s Johnny Ward never thought he’d meet anyone again before chance meeting with wife Brenda

Johnny Ward has admitted he was in a very bad place four years ago, particularly during lockdown, before meeting his wife Brenda Murphy.

The Fair City star never thought that he would meet anyone again, but they hit it off instantly and tied the knot in Kildare last summer.

He recalled how his best man incorporated his late father into his wedding day and teased what is ahead work wise this year.

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Johnny told RSVP Magazine: “I was in a very bad place four years ago, particularly during lockdown. I never thought that I’d meet anyone again.

“I had a couple of scripts and I started writing, but I never thought I’d meet someone as beautiful and normal as Brenda. She appeared out of nowhere one day while I was walking in The Curragh [in Co. Kildare].

“We were walking in the same direction and I asked if we could walk together. She straight away said, ‘Are you the man off the telly?’

“She started telling me about what she does and she opened up about her father. We were sharing sad stories, but we were down on the ground laughing as well. I knew straight away that I fancied her.”

Being in a bad place before meeting Brenda, what was the reason for that? “I was in a bad place because of lockdown. I was cracking up because my work had been taken away from me.”

Johnny knew that Brenda was “the one” pretty much straight away.

He said: “I told her that I loved her after two-and-a-half weeks together. I was never more sure of anything in my life and I knew I was going to marry her. She’s like an angel, she’s so supportive.”

Johnny’s father died during his time on Dancing With The Stars in 2019, and it was hard not having him there on his wedding day.

He said: “My best man Darren Molloy did such a lovely thing. My best friend David Campbell died by suicide in 2012.

“It was a really sad time, not only for me but for everyone in Walkinstown in general. When Darren gave his speech he dedicated it to my dad and to David.

“He said that he knew I could feel them with me and then he said they had been walking with me all day. He had put a picture of David and my father in each of my shoes.

“It was the loveliest thing. The pictures were hidden in the bottom of the shoes, I don’t know how Darren did it.”

He added: “Weird things kept happening then. The staff were bringing out extra meals and drinks and it was like there was someone else with us. With my father not there, it gave my mam an opportunity to do the speech. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”

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His mam had a health scare after his dad died and after his finished Dancing With The Stars.

Johnny said: “She’s brilliant. She has taken up loads of activities. She even signed me up for philosophy classes on a Monday night just because she wanted a lift.

“I take her every week. Mam also does writing and drama and is so independent, she’s always in great form.”

Johnny wasn’t nervous to go public with his relationship with Brenda? rsvplive.ie first shared the news in December 2021 after an interview with him.

He said: “No! I’m not one for ‘going public’, it was a relationship to me. When I was asked if I was in a relationship, I said that I was.

“Maybe Brenda was a bit nervous, but there was nothing to be nervous about. She’s an angel and I feel blessed to have met her.

“I love that she has nothing to do with the industry. If someone does the same thing as you it can be very hard to switch off.”

Johnny and Brenda live out in Kilcullen in Co. Kildare.

He joked: “People think we do all this high-end stuff, but all we do is stay in and watch Four In A Bed. We’re so invested in it.

“Brenda is an angel and I feel blessed to have met her. I love that she has nothing to do with the [acting] industry.”

Johnny will be back in panto in December again.

He teased: “Yes! But I can’t tell you what role I’m playing and what panto I’m in. It hasn’t been officially announced yet.”

Johnny tends to play the villain a lot, and he loves to get booed and hissed at on stage.

He said: “For me, it’s absolutely effortless. I’ve played the good guy before, but there’s something so easy about being the villain.

“I remember going to The Gaiety years and years ago and thinking that I’d love to be the bad guy.

“You know you’re doing a great job when you hear a lot of booing. I love winding up the kids and the parents and doing improv.”

Read the full interview with Johnny Ward and see the stunning pictures of him and his wife Brenda on their honeymoon cruise in this month’s RSVP Magazine – on shelves now

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