BBC bosses made Brendan O’Carroll change Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special, ‘in case the Queen died’.
The Christmas Day edition of the show, called Mammy Of the People, will see O’Carroll’s Agnes Brown enter a BBC Radio Times competition to broadcast a reply to the Queen’s speech.
But executives at the BBC warned against too many references to Her Majesty, in case the 94-year-old passes away.
BBC bosses made Brendan O’Carroll change the running order of Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special, ‘in case the Queen died’ (he is pictured in the show)
He told the Irish Sun: ‘They (BBC) said suppose something happens to the Queen, before Christmas comes?
‘If we put that bit in the main body of the show, then we will have to scrap the show. I went “wow you’re right!”
‘So we agreed that Mrs Brown would do her own Queen’s address in the end titles.
Instead of being incorporated into the episode, O’Carroll. 65, will read a speech over the titles at the end of the episode.
FEMAIL has contacted the BBC and Brendan O’Carroll for comment.
It is not known if BBC bosses have asked other show creator’s to change scripts in case of a royal death.
O’Carroll added that he told the BBC of his plans to make a Queen’s speech ‘pretty early’ and that he wasn’t afraid of offending the royal family due to Netflix smash hit The Crown.
The Queen, 94, is pictured with Prince Philip, 99, at Windsor Castle in June, where the couple have been isolating for most of the year
This year, the Queen and Prince Philip, 99, will forgo their traditional Christmas festivities at Sandringham and remain at Windsor Castle for December 25, where they have been isolating with a ‘bubble’ of staff since October due to the ongoing pandemic.
It means the couple face spending Christmas Day without any of their four children for the first time since 1949, when the then Princess Elizabeth left a one-year-old Charles in the UK so she could be with Prince Philip in Malta.
Earlier this week, O’Carroll confirmed that he’s signed a new deal to ensure the popular BBC sitcom will continue to make its Christmas specials for seven more years.
The show’s creator Brendan O’Carroll confirmed that he’s signed a new deal to ensure the popular BBC sitcom will continue to make its Christmas specials for seven more years (pictured in 2018)
He added that the new contract guarantees that every festive edition he creates will be given a coveted slot of 10pm every Christmas Day.
And that if they are not given the spot, they are not obliged to make the Christmas episode at all.
Last year’s Mrs Brown’s Boys drew an audience of 4.63 million, making it the seventh most watched programme of the day.
This year’s festive edition will see the foul-mouthed matriarch navigate life in the coronavirus pandemic.
Life imitated art as rehearsals for the show were done via Zoom, while the cast and crew had daily Covid-19 tests during production.
The series has been surrounded by controversy of late as a source close to former-Mrs Brown’s Boys actor Gary Hollywood recently accused the show’s star Brendan O’Carroll of ‘lying’ about Gary’s shock exit from the series.
Gary, 41, who played the loveable hairdresser Dino Doyle, recently vanished from new episodes of the BBC One show after 20 years over an alleged ‘big money dispute’.
Last weekend, Brendan insisted that Gary left due to personal reasons and that there is no bad blood between them.
But a source told MailOnline on Monday evening: ‘Brendan is lying through his dentures to save face and save the show.
‘To say Gary left the show to move to Lanzarote was so stupid and really insulting to Gary’s and the Mrs Brown’s fans.
‘They all know Gary has been living in Lanzarote since 2014 and regularly takes to social media to share snaps. He even hosts a weekly radio show on their main radio station, Monster Radio.
‘Brendan knows this but said it in the hope nobody will really notice, as he’s trying to be complimentary about Gary, by saying it was amicable. It was far from amicable.’
The source went on to claim the rest of the cast are ‘too scared to stand up to Brendan’ and that the show is in turmoil behind-the-scenes.
‘The future of the show is at stake here. While it does divide opinion, it’s extremely popular with a lot of people.
‘One of the reasons for it is because they appear to be a family not just on camera but off too. They’re all meant to be paid equally and they’re all meant to be one big happy family.
‘Behind the scenes it’s far from it. This has been brewing for a very long time and everyone saw it coming.
‘Of course brushing it under the carpet and trying to rewrite history isn’t going to help matters – but everyone’s too scared to stand up to Brendan for fear they’ll get the chop, just like Gary did.
‘Gary was much loved by the cast, crew and the fans alike. His character Dino was one of the show’s most popular and the fans are very upset to see him go.’
MailOnline approached reps at the BBC and for Brendan for comment at the time.
The Mrs Brown’s Boys festive specials air Christmas Day on BBC One at 10pm and New Years Day.