Brian McFadden - And what about the sport?
Taken from: TOTP, April 2005

Brian McFadden popped in to TOTP recently to promote his new single, so we accosted him in his dressing room to discuss his sporting prowess.

TOTP: Did you enjoy sport at school?
Brian: I did, I played, I think, thirteen different sports while I was at school. I was on the football team, rugby, hurling, table tennis, badminton...I did practically everything.

TOTP: What's hurling?
Brian: You play it with a ball and sticks. It's an Irish sport. Very violent.

TOTP: So, did you have any time to eat, or sleep?
Brian: No, not really! I got out of a lot of classes because of sports, though, so that was pretty cool.

TOTP: So, you were quite the sports star! Which ones did you excel at?
Brian: Football, definitely, and probably table-tennis too. I played for about three different football teams, and I reached the championships in table tennis, so yeah, both of those.

TOTP: Which sportswomen do you find attractive?
Brian: [thinks for a few seconds, then enthusiastically] The wrestlers! Yeah, the WWF women!

TOTP: But of all the sports you play, which do you think is the coolest?
Brian: No, not really! I got out of a lot of classes because of sports, though, so that was pretty cool.

TOTP: Those are two fairly different extremes...
Brian: Yeah. You can't beat the feeling you get from playing football, but golf's a completely different vibe, it's more chilled-out. More a Sunday morning sort of thing.

TOTP: Would you ever consider doing any extreme sports?
Brian: No. I mean, I skateboarded when I was a kid, but that's about as far as I got! I never really got any more extreme than that.

TOTP: So you wouldn't fancy doing the ironing over Niagara Falls or anything, then?
Brian: [laughing] No thanks!

TOTP: Have you had any really nasty sporting injuries?
Brian: Yeah. Yeah, when I was playing football, I really got my leg shattered. This guy went in for a tackle, and caught me. He did it deliberately as well.

TOTP: Did he get sent off?
Brian: [indignantly] No! He just got a yellow card and a warning, which was disgraceful. He should have been sent off for that. Sent to prison!

TOTP: Have you ever had a really big reaction to your team losing?
Brian: Yeah. I still play on a team in Ireland - it was that game, actually - and it was the finals, I think. We lost one-nil, and the other team got a really scabby goal, and we just couldn't pick up after it. It was so depressing. We had this really big party planned afterwards, and no one was in the mood for it. It was so depressing!

TOTP: So how do you recover from a defeat like that?
Brian: Just get really drunk.

TOTP: If you entered the Olympics, which sport would you do?
Brian: Shot putt, definitely. I throw a mean shot putt.

TOTP: And which sport would you like to watch?
Brian: They'd have to get golf into the Olympics, I'd watch that. There's quite a thrill to the 100 metres, though.

TOTP: What's the dirtiest trick you've ever used to win a game?
Brian: Yeah, I've done a few dodgy tackles. I usually go in with a tackle in the first five minutes of the game if I can. Just to let people know. Mark my territory.

TOTP: So no one messes with you?
Brian: Exactly.

TOTP: And finally, seeing as it's late in the year, do you ever go in for winter sports?
Brian: No. Can't. Skiing, snowboarding, anything like that, can't do it! Never could.

TOTP: And finally, seeing as it's late in the year, do you ever go in for winter sports?
Brian: No. Can't. Skiing, snowboarding, anything like that, can't do it! Never could.