Inside RTE legend Bryan Dobson’s life off air – love for wife and kids, life-changing health scare & ret...

VETERAN newsreader Bryan Dobson has bid an emotional farewell to RTE after 37 years on air.

The legendary presenter was on air for the final time on News at One on RTE Radio One today at 1pm.

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Dobson is one of the most recognisable faces in Irish TV thanks to his long-standing career but his home life is lesser known.

Here's everything you need to know about Dobson's private life.

The Dubliner met his beloved wife Crea while he was doing a report in Inisboffin for Tidy Towns competition in 1982

They exchanged vows just six years later in St John’s Church in Sandymount, Dublin and Dobson previously told RTE "the rest is history".

The happy couple now live in Portobello, Dublin.

Bryan and Crea went on to welcome two kids, Sophie and Hannah, who are now both in their early 30s.

The 64-year-old admitted that his daughters accusing him of quizzing them at the dinner table when they were children.

He told the Irish Independent in 2014: "In fact, my daughters now sometimes say to me over dinner 'Stop interviewing us dad!' when I would ask them what their day was like or what they did."

Bryan also has a two-year-old grandson who he's looking to spend quality time with now that he's retired.

He told RSVP Live: "My wife is winding down as well. We have a grandson, so it will be nice to spend more time with him. He is coming up on two-and-a-half."

He jokingly added: "We have two adult daughters and they are both living in Dublin.

"As I said to one of them, they will be saying, 'There’s Dad again, don’t open the door. Pretend we are not in'."

The broadcaster underwent a physical transformation in recent years, after changing his lifestyle that was prompted by a health scare during a doctor's visit.

He lost almost four stone after being warned he was high risk of diabetes and heart disease.

He told the RTE Guide: "I went to a dietician who told me what to do, which was basically, eat less.

'UNCONDITIONAL LOVE'

"I believe a lot of people’s metabolism doesn’t react the way mine did so I’m lucky. In fact, a friend said to me 'You’re basically a thin guy who got fat' and maybe that’s what happened.

"It was not very complicated. I reduced portions, ate more vegetables and salads, and stopped snacking between meals. It was a slow and steady progress over about two years."

Bryan had a close relationship with his parents, particularly with his mum Violet who died in 2019 at 94-years-old.

The newsreader said his mum "thrived on meeting friends" and spoke of her "unconditional love" for him and his sister.

And while he admitted she "wouldn't be shy of pulling me up on an interview that didn't impress her" - he said his parents were both "tremendously supportive" and gave him "great confidence", he told RTE in 2020.

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