It's all smiles on screen during Mrs Brown's Boys, but behind-the-scenes the comedy has been rocked by scandal.
Mrs Brown's Boys has been entertaining (and infuriating) the nation for almost a decade - with viewers tuning in to catch up with lovable rogue Agnes.
The Irish mammy has been storming the airwaves since the 90s, going from radio star to BBC favourite and even got her own movie.
O'Carroll, who created the series and stars as matriarch Agnes, has even got his family and close friends in to star in his show.
While the show has received some scathing reviews from critics over the years, viewers can't get enough of the Brown family's antics and switch on in their millions.
But it's not all been rosy as the 'gruelling' nature of the show and a major tax scandal caused chaos backstage.
The original cast line-up has not remained intact, with one very prominent star leaving his role and no longer speaking to his former colleagues.
While Brendan himself has been regularly forced to defend his show, characters and members of his family.
Here is a look at the scandals that have rocked the show over the years:
Tax avoidance shame
Three cast members were caught up in Panorama’s Paradise Papers leak and accused of ‘diverting more than £2million' into an offshore tax avoidance scheme back in November 2017.
Married pair Martin and Fiona Delany, who play Trevor and Maria Brown respectively, and Patrick Houlihan (Dermot Brown) allegedly had their fees from the show transferred to companies in Mauritius, before receiving it back in the form of a “loan”.
Nothing they did was illegal, with cash was then sent to a trust set up by offshore law firm firm Appleby, with the trust taking 12.5 per cent.
The trio reportedly all had individual trusts, which they were the self-employed contractors of, meaning they had to “recommend” that their earnings be sent back to the UK in the form of loans.
Houlihan claimed he was introduced to the scheme by Roy Lyness - the accountant linked to a tax avoidance scheme used by Jimmy Carr.
While admitting he did sign up to the scheme, he insisted he "never knew what the f**k was going on.”
O'Carroll launched a passionate defence of his daughter and attacked the BBC’s Panorama for the way they treated her.
In a blistering letter to programme bosses he insisted none of the Mrs Brown’s Boys cast had done anything wrong.
In a stinging attack he raged: “She is not an oligarch laundering money through Greek banks, nor does she deal in the arm trade, deal drugs or traffic people.
“She has never committed a crime in her life, she doesn’t have a private yacht or own a collection of luxury cars. She drives a Kia people carrier which is necessary if you have four toddlers.”
Brendan admitted he didn't understand why the cast featured so heavily on Panorama as "none have a Rolls Royce or a yacht".
He continued: “Yet there seems to be an effort going on to tarnish the name of the show. But I’m sure the viewers know us better, that we are upfront, and always have been.
“No-one involved with Mrs Brown’s Boys has done anything illegal. Everybody that featured in that show did what they did for completely different reasons.
"Paddy and Fiona wanted to regularise their income over a period of time so they could pay tax over a longer period of time.
He blasted the BBC for “ambushing” his daughter and leaving her in tears after she was "brutally" approached.
He raged: “They scared the life out of her.
“Obviously I was angry. Fiona was in tears. I spent the whole day comforting her."
Refusing to stop swearing
Brendan has repeatedly refused to tone down the swearing in his show from multiple parties, including the BBC.
The creator has revealed that during early meetings with the BBC he was asked to cut swear words from his scripts so the programme could be shown before the watershed.
Television executive Danny Cohen, who worked as controller for both BBC One at the time, told him he could become a massive star if his shows were shown earlier.
Speaking at a pre-screening of the 2018 Christmas specials, the comic said he had been invited in for what he called a 'f' meeting, where he expected to be admonished for using foul language.
He said: "Danny Cohen had taken over as controller. I had been invited in for a 'f' meeting. I went in with my producer. I arrived and Danny Cohen, he was mighty big and he was swinging in his chair.
"He spent the first 10 minutes telling me how lucky the BBC felt to have found me and the family, how wonderful Mrs Brown's Boys was and how he liked that there was also pathos there and hopefully a message at the end - that families fall in and fall out but at the end of the day there's always something that keeps them together. We were going through all of this stuff."
He added that he had playfully asked Cohen to get to the point then explained that he would not change the show to attract more viewers.
Now I'm getting f ** bored. I say: 'Danny, can we cut to the chase? You want me to stop saying 'f***' so you can put the show on at eight o'clock.'
"And he said: 'Exactly.' I said: 'The show is the show. Put it at eight o'clock, or put it on at half 10, put it on at half 12, the people who want to see it will find it. But the show is the show. I don't care when you put it on, we are not changing the show'."
Brendan had a similar request from US TV networks in 2013, when multiple networks contacted the comedian to give them permission to remake the hit sitcom for audiences over the pond.
US law dictates certain swear words can never be aired on telly and routinely get beeped out, but Brendan refused to change his mind.
At the time, co-star Rory Cowan said: "By law if there is any swearing it has got to be beeped – and not just change the words. Brendan won’t agree to that at all.
"Brendan would stick to his guns. He would rather not change anything."
NTAs fury
Being no stranger to awards success, Mrs Brown's Boys won Best Comedy at the National Television Awards for three consecutive years in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
But there was a spectacular backlash in 2020 when Brendan O'Carroll picked up the gong again after beating After Life, Fleabag, Derry Girls and Sex Education.
Whilst the cast were overjoyed, the reaction from those watching at home was mixed to say the best.
After the announcement, Twitter was divided, with some furious fans of rival shows comparing the win to various other world catastrophes.
One person said: "Forget Coronavirus, Brexit, bushfires or tensions in the Middle East... Mrs Browns Boys won an NTA ahead of @rickygervais After Life! Stop the planet... I want to get off."
"Mrs. Brown's Boys winning the Comedy award is a prime example why people in the UK shouldn’t be trusted when voting," added another.
A third said: "Mrs Brown's Boys is far and away the least funny programme on television, how the f**k did it win an NTA never mind beat Sex Education and Afterlife on the way to doing it?"
Some fans were confused and outraged on how Mrs Brown's Boys swiped the win over Ricky Gervais' comedy drama Afterlife, claiming the Netflix show was more deserving.
But Ricky Gervais himself took his defeat in good humour and tweeted: "What a f*****g bunch of losers. Congratulations to Mrs Brown’s Boys. Democracy always wins.
"Be nice in defeat and know that you are still the best fans in the world. Thanks to everyone who voted."
And obviously, there were plenty of Mrs Brown's Boys fans thrilled with the result.
Rory quits - and doesn't speak to cast anymore
One of the main Mrs Brown's boys characters, Rory is the hilarious son of Agnes, who was oblivious to the fact he is gay until the 'Mammy of the Groom' episode.
This is despite Rory constantly dropping hints to his mother, but he finally found the love of his life and married fellow hairdresser Dino Doyle in series 3.
Rory Cowan played the role of his namesake for 26 years on stage and screen, but shocked fans of the show by deciding to quit in July 2017.
The Dubliner insisted that the split from Brendan O'Carroll's comedy troupe had been completely "amicable" but he had not been enjoying it for two years.
Rory told the Irish Mirror: “I got tired of it, I haven’t been happy for the last two years working there.
“There was no row with Brendan, there was no dispute over money or anything, in fact quite the opposite, I got so well paid that it enabled me to be able to leave, I didn’t need to stay.”
"Touring is a young man's game and he just wanted to take some time off to reassess what he would do with the rest of his life," his agent told Mirror Online.
"It was an amicable split and he has worked with Brendan for years so there was no hard feelings."
Rory was immediately replaced by Damien McKiernan, who made his first appearance during the 2017 Christmas special.
Speaking on The Late Late show in Ireland, O'Carroll explained why Rory had decided to quit.
"Rory (Cowan) has left as he found touring gruelling. All my family go on the road," confessed Brendan.
"For me it is six month holiday with my grandkids but Rory’s mam has not been well for a long time and his life was around his mother. He worried about that. I was sorry to see him go but I was glad to see him happy.
“We now have a new Rory in the show. It is like he went for plastic surgery. We were going to get him come out of the shower like Bobby Ewing or out of a phone box like Doctor Who.”
He left on good terms, but Rory admitted last year that he no longer speaks to his former colleagues.
In September 2019, Rory said: "I don't keep in touch with the people I worked with on Mrs Brown's Boys. Not because I left on bad terms.
"It's like anybody who changes jobs. You leave and you just don't see the old work mates you used to work with."
Discussing his relationship with the show’s writer, he told the Independent: "I get texts from Brendan every few months saying there are repeat fees from the TV series going into my account, but that's it really.
"But I wish them all the best and I'd imagine they wish the same for me. But we don't see each other anymore. That's the same in any job really."
Scathing reviews
Mrs Brown's Boys is a massive British favourite - and become as much a part of Christmas Day as the turkey.
Despite incredible success and viewing figures, the show has consistently received scathing reviews from critics.
It was one dubbed "the worst comedy ever made" by the Independent and was called "shameless excrescence" by the Observer.
Claiming it was "jaw-droppingly past its sell-by date" and "not even remotely funny", the Metro called on the BBC to "hang its head in shame" for showing "this drivel".
The Christmas special in 2018 brought in 6.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched programme of the day, but was branded one of the most horrific episodes ever.
The show has also received some criticism for it's depiction of Irish mammy Agnes.
The Irish Independent once claimed it "makes you vaguely embarrassed to be Irish", but it's also a ratings success in the emerald isle.
O'Carroll himself has said the success of the show has been partly down to an "Are You Being Served? audience" that has felt "left behind" and forgotten as comedy moves on.
Dick Fiddy, archive TV programmer at the BFI, says: "I think it's because there's a certain section of the audience that feels disenfranchised by modern comedy; an audience that enjoyed the broad, double entendre comedy of On The Buses and Are You Being Served?
"Mrs Brown represents a style of TV programming that had gone out of fashion.
"It's not trying to be too clever. It's just trying to make you laugh. It's raison d'être is to make you laugh."
Cailtny Jenner joke
There was some controversy when Caitlyn Jenner came round for a kitchen table natter like no other with Mrs Brown.
Appearing on spin-off show All Round to Mrs Brown’s, Caitlyn was asked to spill the beans on step daughter Kim Kardashian and "that big a**s", which was then confirmed to be Kanye West.
The Irish matriarch spared no time - and no blushes - with the risque chat.
When asked if she started her transition by "dressing up as a woman", Caitlyn replied: "Would you know anything about that, Agnes?"
The most contentious question came when Mrs Brown then asked Caitlyn if she had female sex organs.
When Caitlyn explained that she has 10 children, stunned Mrs Brown quipped: "Thank God you got rid of it."
Caitlyn was quick to fire back again though, replying: “I didn’t actually get rid of it, I just retired it.”
Acutely aware of the risky turn in conversation, Mrs Brown pretends to be flustered, quickly patting at her neck with her handkerchief giving the impression she was sweating.
Clearly unaffected by the statement, Caitlyn smirks and replies: "Thank God! I didn’t actually get rid of it, I just retired it".
While some viewers praised the open nature of the conversation on transitioning, others were offended and found the rude chat problematic.
D'Movie gets panned
In 2014, Mrs Brown made the step up to the big screen in her very own film which made £14.7 million at the box office.
Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie topped the UK and Ireland box office for two weeks and brought in £4.3 million in its opening weekend - with just a £3.6 million budget.
In the theatrical release, Mrs Brown is forced to go to court to protect her market stall from being taken over by a corrupt Russian businessman.
As well as the regular cast, it also starred Boyzone's Keith Duffy, Cold Feet's Robert Bathurst and Eamonn Holmes as himself.
However, the movie was universally panned by critics and received a staggeringly low 6% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Guardian called the one star film a "flatly indifferent cash-in" and was critical of "unfunny" Chinese character Mr Wang, who was also played by Brendan.
Empire said it was "shambolically performed by the majority of its cast", while the BBC's Mark Kermode claimed it was "an absolute stinker" and "not funny on any level, at all"
Yet there are still plans for a sequel.