RTÉ’s Carl Mullan “so excited” at pregnancy after tragic loss last year

The couple, who married in April last year, are due their second baby in August, a sibling to their one-year-old son Daibhí.

They found out she was expecting again shortly before the 2fm star (33) took on the challenge of RTE’s Dancing with the Stars, which he went on to win.

He said he was “so excited” to become a two-time father in the wake of the couple suffering a pregnancy loss last September.

“One of the most cruel things about it is, it’s only when you say it out loud that you realise how common it is,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it’s one of those sad parts of life. It was tough but we found that saying it out loud how common it was and how many people have gone through it.

“We’re so quick to be stoic and put on a brave face. But it’s also OK to let yourself be upset about something. Let yourself go through the process of it.”

He said it was a complicated kind of loss as it puts a sharp end to all your hopes and dreams for the future and can also be stigmatised by people not talking about it enough.

“You’re upset for what could have been and all of the things you imagine in your head when you find out your partner is pregnant. It’s all of those hopes that you have and then it’s like ‘OK, that’s not going to happen now.’ That’s the stuff that you’re upset about. I think we were taken aback by how kind everyone was to us and also the amount of people that that got on to us saying, ‘We had the exact same experience.’

“It happened early enough into the pregnancy but thank God, two or three months later, we found out that she was pregnant again which was lovely.”

The 2fm Breakfast Show that he co-fronts with Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O’Callaghan will mark its second anniversary at the end of this month.

The most recent Joint National Listenership Research (JNLRs) showed they had gained 6,000 listeners, bringing their tally to 135,000.

While thrilled that they are on an upward trajectory, he said they’re constantly trying to improve the way and make it better.

“That’s six books in a row now where we’ve gone up, which is great. I think the most important thing with the JNLRs is to be like, ‘OK it’s going in the right direction.’ It’s where we want to be,” he said.

“It takes a while for a show to bed down and find its feet. But Donncha is great for that with his background in competitive sports. He’s like, ‘It’s going great but what can we do better?’ That's what we as a team try to focus on. We’re very lucky in that we do are something we love with people that we get on with. We're three genuine pals.”

He was speaking as he helped launch 2023 Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps on-pack competition, which is open to everyone who wants to nominate their local club.

Up for grabs is €40,000 of prizes. To enter, people need a promotional Kellogg’s box and to log on to kelloggsculcamps.gaa.ie/competition.