Alan Hughes (born 19 October 1963[citation needed]) is an Irish television personality, pantomime actor and producer. He works for Virgin Media and appears on Ireland AM. He also hosted Family Fortunes from 2012 to 2014.[1]
In the 1990s, he hosted the RTÉ game show Talk About for three years.[2]
Since the 1990s, Hughes has co-produced and starred in pantomimes, usually playing the camp character Sammy Sausages with his "tanx a thousand!" catchphrase.[3]
In 2009, Hughes faced a health scare when there were fears he had stomach cancer.[4]
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.[5][6] 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.[7] Close friend Derek Mooney was his best man.[8] The couple appeared on The Saturday Night Show soon afterwards in their first public interview together.[9]
Hughes was nominated in the Favourite Male TV Presenter category at the 2009 TV Now Awards.[4]
Panto.ie
Hughes and husband Broderick,[10] as Panto.ie/Anthem productions,[11][12][13] have produced pantomimes since the 1990s.[14][15][16] It was known for sponsorship reasons as the Ambrosia Splat Panto,[16] and the Cheerios Panto.[17][18] Hughes usually plays the camp character Sammy Sausages with his "tanx a thousand!" catchphrase, with Rob Murphy playing Buffy.[3][19] Venues have included the Tivoli,[3] Saint Anthony's Theatre,[16][20] Liberty Hall Theatre,[16] and the National Stadium.[17][21] Productions in 2020 and 2021 were affected by the impact of COVID-19. For 2020, a drive-in show, Peter Pan, was staged at Malahide Castle.[22] The 2021/22 production Aladdin, was curtailed due to a spike in infections.[23]
Productions have included performances by Brian Dowling,[11] Nadia Forde,[24] Jake Carter,[22] Niamh Kavanagh and pre-recorded pieces by broadcasters Joe Duffy and Marty Morrissey.[24][25][17]
References
External links
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