Brian Dowling has shared advice he had been given by Pippa O’Connor after the “obscene abuse” he received over his trip to Ibiza.
The presenter and his husband Arthur Gourounlian became parents for the first time in 2022 when they welcomed Blake via their surrogate, Brian’s sister Aoife, who also carried their second baby.
Their second child, another daughter named Blu, was born on June 23rd this year.
Last month, the 36-year-old revealed he had gotten reported for going on holiday without his two children.
Brian and Arthur joined Pippa to celebrate her 40th birthday trip to Ibiza.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, the presenter confessed: “People were online fighting among themselves when we were in Dublin Airport.”
“I was away for my best friend’s birthday for four nights – it was a trip that was planned a year in advance – and the abuse we got for leaving the girls was obscene.”
“All of our other friends who were on the trip were heterosexual and they didn’t get any judgement or condemnation.”
Brian continued: “Having said that, Pippa did get trolled when she went to my 40th in Vegas six years ago; she was being asked who her kids were with, and was like ‘their father’.”
“Maybe some people are upset because they didn’t get to do these things, I don’t know.”
“But she was saying to me “you can’t take it that seriously and you have to live your life’.”
He added: “Pippa has been so good to us, she gave us a crib and a cradle and lots of clothes.”
Last month, Brian claimed that when he came out as gay more than 20 years ago, a priest in his hometown of Co Kildare welcomed him with open arms.
However, things took a turn for the worse when his husband, Arthur Gourounlian, went to a separate church to ask to have their daughter Blu christened.
Even though they have received a tonne of love from the public and fans, Brian claimed that when they looked into Blu’s christening, things were different.
He told The Irish Sun: “I was unavailable that day. I was on daddy duty, so Arthur went. And I think I would have been very more, let’s just say, aggressive in my responses.”
“Arthur was very polite. I just couldn’t believe in this day and age — considering where the Catholic Church is and everything that we know about it — that they are so unwelcoming of two people that just want to get their daughter christened.”
“Just his whole ignorance in being obsessed with Arthur and Aoife… and Aoife being our daughter’s mother.”
