Lottie Ryan has admitted she was “utterly heartbroken” when her parents Gerry and Morah separated.
The RTÉ star’s parents parted ways in 2008 after 26 years of marriage, leaving Lottie and her four siblings devastated.
Speaking to Jennifer Zamparelli on their podcast Jen & Lottie do… Parenting, Lottie confessed she didn’t take the news well.
“Growing up I had loads of friends who had parents who were separated. Some of them grew up like that, some of them had happened later in life,” she said.
“It didn’t mean that when my parents separated I was going, ‘Oh yeah, this is cool. I’m totally okay with this.’ I was utterly heartbroken.”
Lottie, who was 22 at the time, recalled: “I think my mum told me and I didn’t take it well.”
“Telling me is going to be completely different to telling every single one of my brothers and sisters.”
“Because everyone was at completely different ages and required their parents to be different things for them at different ages.
“That unit means something different when you’re a different age, but I think no matter what age you are, you’re going to be heartbroken.”
Lottie continued: “You start thinking, ‘How is the dynamic going to change? Am I going to have to live with dad on XYZ days and live with mum on these days’.
“Because you’re a kid you’re selfish and thinking, ‘Does that mean I won’t get to see my friends at the weekend cause I have to go and stay with so and so?’”
Two years after Gerry split from his wife Morah, the beloved broadcaster died suddenly at the age of 53 on April 30, 2010 after suffering a heart attack.
Morah is now in a relationship with Limerick songwriter Don Mescall.
