A Moray teenager has achieved his dream of meeting his TV idols in a special backstage visit after an overwhelming show of public support.
Kai Anderson, who has suffered serious health problems in recent years, filmed a video to plead with his friends to write to the makers of Mrs Brown’s Boys, so he could meet the stars of the hit programme.
The Keith Grammar School pupil has credited the programme with helping him through “tough times” in hospital, but he had been thwarted in his own attempts to make a date with Brendan O’Carroll.
However, when his online appeal went viral with more than 19,000 views, the 13-year-old and his family met stars from the comedy backstage before a performance in Glasgow at the weekend.
The makers of Mrs Brown’s Boys had been inundated with e-mails from fans urging them to pull out all the stops to meet Kai.
And yesterday, he revealed his determination had made an impression on Mr O’Carroll.
He said: “It was so much fun. He said he felt like he already knew me from the amount of e-mails he had got.
“The show was brilliant too. The help from everyone to get backstage was amazing. It wouldn’t have happened without them.”
Kai has staged his own productions of Mrs Brown’s Boys in Keith with friends Corey McQuade, Craig McIntosh, Katelyn Adams, Charlotte Philpot, Kurtis McQuade and Carley West.
And now, he is intending to take to the stage as Mrs Brown again in “a comeback” after being inspired by his trip to meet Mr O’Carroll.
The duo reeled off jokes to each other as other members of the cast came in to have their picture taken with Kai and his step-brothers Craig and Robert McKay.
Mum Michelle McKay said the producers of the show had gone the “extra mile” to make the day special for her son, who suffers from breathing difficulties and has a heart defect.
She added: “We got taken to the front of the stage before the show and into a hospitality room to meet everyone.
“They were so generous with their time. They signed programmes for them all and said they could help themselves to sweets. They really went above and beyond everything we expected.”