'When you are young you don't understand illness' Joanne McNally opens up about father's death

Joanne McNally has spoken about losing her dad when she was still a teenager and the regrets she has.

She appeared on Kathy Burke’s podcast Where There Is A Will, There Is A Wake, which explores the darker side of life asking guests what their last meal would be and how they would like to go.

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Asked if she had any regrets, the comedian said that while there are no major ones she would have acted differently with her dad before he passed. Opening up to Kathy, Joanne has said she has learned from her mistakes and it has made her who she is.

Joanne McNally and Kathy Burke

Thinking back, she said: ‘The tiny regret I do have, as a child was when my dad died. He is long dead now, 20-something years dead because he was sick, but I was too young to realise he was that sick.

‘Had I known I would have been a little bit more patient with him, made him that cup of tea he wanted, but now I’m kind of obsessed with my mother. Anything she wants, anything she needs, calling her back all the time because you don’t want those regrets.’

Joanne McNally. Pic: Joanne McNally / Instagram

She continued: ‘When you are young you don’t cope, you don’t really understand illness to the extent plus no one tells you because they are trying to protect you.’

Joanne’s father Frank died when she was just 15 and she’s spoken publically about her family and upbringing before. She was adopted as a child and in 2018 met her birth father who was living in Australia.

Joanne McNally for the Late Late Show Pic: Supplied

Speaking to the Independent in 2019 about meeting her birth father for the first time and not having an expectation of ‘wanting’ to be cared for, Joanne said: ‘I’d done my growing up, and my parents were great. I didn’t really need anything from him.’

For the star, her past has never been something to hold her back and in the last few years, her career has been going from strength to strength at home and abroad. With her stand-up show Prosecco Express and podcast with best friend, Vogue Williams, My Therapist Ghosted Me, people are certainly getting to know Joanne’s name and her jokes.

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