The actor, best known for playing Grandad on the Irish sitcom, got a new hip after going under the knife at a hospital near Benidorm after suffering a worrying a health issue

Mrs. Brown’s Boys star Dermot O’Neill underwent surgery in Spain.

The actor, best known for playing Grandad on the Irish sitcom, had hip surgery last month.

He got a new hip after going under the knife at a hospital in Denai, near Benidorm instead of facing a lengthy stint on a waiting list here in Ireland.

His health issues meant that he wasn’t as mobile as usual and he was unable to climb the stairs to the dressing room while on tour with the Mrs. Brown’s Boys cast. Production set up a tent for him at the side of stage because he couldn’t access a dressing room.

Dermot told The Irish Sun on Sunday: “They had to put a little tent up backstage on all the last Mrs Brown live shows for me to change, because I couldn’t get up the stairs to the dressing rooms. So every night, I’d be in my little tent waiting to go on.”

Dermot pinpointed his hip issues to the job he held before joining the Mrs. Brown’s Boys team.

He said: “I was a window cleaner for 20 years before I did Mrs Brown. That’s a lot of going up ladders. I cleaned all the windows in Temple Bar when there was nothing there but buses.”

He added: “I loved being a window cleaner. I was my own boss and as happy as Larry.”

Dermot will join the Mrs. Brown’s gang later this year to film the annual Christmas special as well as going on another arena tour.