Alan Hughes (born 19 October 1963) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

television personality,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

actor and producer. He works for

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

and appears on ''

Ireland AM ''Ireland AM'' is an Irish morning television show on Virgin Media One. It airs live every weekday from 07:00 to 10:00, and weekends from 9:00 to 12:00. The program features news, current affairs, weather updates, showbiz, fashion, beauty, fo ...

''. He also hosted ''

Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, ''All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to 2 ...

'' from 2012 to 2014. In the 1990s, he hosted

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

quiz show ''Talk About'' for three years. Since the 1990's Hughes has co-produced and starred in pantomimes, usually playing the

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

character Sammy Sausages with his "tanx a thousand!" catchphrase. In 2009, Hughes faced a health scare when there were fears he had stomach cancer. In September 2011, Hughes engaged in a civil partnership with his partner of 18 years, Karl Broderick, a songwriter, at the Unitarian Church in St Stephen's Green,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. The wedding, on the 18th anniversary of their meeting, was described by ''The Irish Times'' as the highest profile wedding since legislation permitting it to take place was brought in. Close friend

Derek Mooney Derek James Mooney (born 4 March 1967) is an Irish radio and television presenter, as well as a radio producer. Until January 2015 he presented a weekday afternoon programme called ''Mooney'' on RTÉ Radio 1. He is the current executive producer ...

was his best man. The couple appeared on ''

The Saturday Night Show ''The Saturday Night Show'' is a talk show hosted by Brendan O'Connor broadcast on RTÉ One between 2010 and 2015. The show features guest interviews, audience participation and live music. ''The Saturday Night Show'' is broadcast every Saturday ...

'' soon afterwards in their first public interview together. Hughes was nominated in the Favourite Male TV Presenter category at the 2009

TV Now Awards The TV Now Awards (known presently for sponsorship reasons as the Walkers Sensations TV Now Awards) was an annual awards ceremony which took place in Ireland between 2006 and 2010. The awards celebrated television moments from the previous year, w ...

Panto.ie

Hughes and husband Broderick, as Panto.ie/Anthem productions, have produced pantomimes since the 1990's. It was known for sponsorship reasons as the Ambrosia Splat Panto, and the

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Ne ...

Panto. Hughes usually plays the

character Sammy Sausages with his "tanx a thousand!" catchphrase, with Rob Murphy playing Buffy. Venues have included the Tivoli, Saint Anthony's Theatre, Liberty Hall Theatre, and the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. Productions in 2020 and 2021 were affected by the

impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impact ...

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. For 2020, a

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

show,

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

, was staged at

Malahide Castle Malahide Castle ( ga, Caisleán Mhullach Íde), parts of which date to the 12th century, lies close to the village of Malahide, nine miles (14 km) north of central Dublin in Ireland. It has over of remaining parkland estate, forming the ...

. The 2021/22 production

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

, was curtailed due to a spike in infections. Productions have included perfomances by Brian Dowling, Nadia Forde, Jake Carter,

Niamh Kavanagh Niamh Kavanagh ( ; born 13 February 1968) is an Irish singer who sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. She sang "In Your Eyes" to ...

and pre-recorded pieces by broadcasters

Joe Duffy Joseph Duffy (born 27 January 1956) is an Irish broadcaster employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). One of RTÉ's highest-earning stars, he is the current presenter of ''Liveline'', an interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RT� ...

and

Marty Morrissey Martin Morrissey (born 28 October 1958, Mallow, County Cork) is an Irish sports commentator and television presenter. He regularly presents high-profile sports events for RTÉ Sport, such as the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and Olym ...

References

External links

Panto.ie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Alan Living people Ireland AM hosts Irish game show hosts Irish LGBT broadcasters Irish LGBT entertainers Pantomime RTÉ television presenters 1963 births 21st-century LGBT people