Presenter attributes ‘moral framework’ to Catholic upbringing
X Factor presenter Dermot O’Leary says the Catholic faith provides a “framework” for his life.
Mr O’Leary, 41, who has hosted the X Factor since 2007, was speaking about his Catholic faith while visiting Ireland to launch his new book, The Soundtrack to My Life.
He told the RTÉ Guide “I’m not the conservative-style religious fanatic. For me, it is about a moral framework, more than anything else.”
Mr O’Leary said that his Irish parents, Wexford natives John and Marie O’Leary, had a decidedly Irish impact on him.
“We had a picture of the Pope. We’d go to Mass on a Sunday and we’d either see the rest of the Irish people at Mass and we’d have dinner with them or they’d end up coming back to our house.
“We’d have a bit of a céilí in the evening and what not, or my father would go up to London and play hurling for the Fr Murphy’s,” said Mr O’Leary.