Tommy Bowe has revealed the coronavirus pandemic has allowed him to spend more time with his wife and two children.
The Ireland AM presenter is married to former Miss Wales Lucy Whitehouse, and the couple share two kids – Emma, 3, and Jamie, 10 months.
Tommy and Lucy welcomed their second child last March, and the sports star has admitted they were “very fortunate” with the way things panned out.
Speaking to Goss.ie, the 36-year-old said: “We were very lucky he was born just at the very start of the lockdown…”
“So I was able to be there for the birth, I was able to do all the scans and that sort of thing so we were really, really fortunate.”
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The closure of businesses across the country also allowed Tommy to spend more time at home while Jamie was a newborn.
Aside from his presenting work, the Monaghan native owns a menswear brand called XV Kings Clothing, and has a range of footwear with Lloyd & Pryce.
Tommy said: “Back in March, the rugby stopped and all the shops closed, so everything really stopped for me too. So it meant I was at home for 3 or 4 months.”
The father-of-two said he would usually “never be there”, but lockdown gave him the opportunity to spend quality time at home.
“I would have been flat out and poor Lucy would have been up to her eyeballs, so it worked out really well,” he said.
“I was able to spend some real quality time with my daughter, which I never really would have had, and it meant that Lucy was able to cope with Jamie.”
Although he’s loving spending more time at home, Tommy admitted it can be chaotic.
“Jamie is just after starting crawling now so that’s just mad altogether,” he said. “Into absolutely everything, well into wrecking everything and climbing up on everything… its just chaos!”
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“Anyways you just have to keep one eye on him the whole time and then try and keep an eye on everything else that’s going on as well.”
“So its hard to get much done but listen I’m sure a lot of parents out there are struggling at the minute so I can’t complain too much.”
When asked if they’re planning on expanding their brood anytime soon, Tommy confessed they have their hands full for the time being.
The 36-year-old said: “Oh Jesus, I don’t think so. I think we’re in the thick of it with a
three-year-old and a 10-month-old at the minute so I don’t think… well that’s far from our minds at the minute!”
Tommy also spoke about the struggle of enjoying “date nights” at home with his wife Lucy.
The rugby star told us: “I think a takeaway night and taking turns for cooking, that’s about as romantic as it gets for date nights unfortunately. We’re not great!”
“We normally have a night where we can have a bite to eat when the kids are gone to bed. That’s always something to look forward to!”
