'Jenny & I have five children between us ..we're not married..

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Nov 30, 2008 | by NAOMI McELROY

HE'S one of Ireland's best-loved stars with three TV shows and his own radio slot, but Martin King has revealed he almost turned down his big break.

Today the TV3 legend spills the beans on his marriage plans, his secret umbrella collection and why revealing his sex tricks on telly got him into very hot water.

Martin, 45, says when fame came calling he tried to pretend he was out.

He said: "What happened was, it was 1998, Ireland hadn't qualified for the World Cup in France, when I got a call from Andrew Hanlon, a former colleague of mine at 98fm, and he asked me if I would you like to go to TV3 to present the weather.

"I said 'ah no, hang on', I thought of what I'd seen on the weather in the past on the BBC and RTE and I said 'no, I don't know if I want to do it'.

"I was working in the breakfast show at 98fm at the time, doing things like running into people's bedroom to give them a live alarm call, or inviting them to bring their chairs out into the street to eat.

"But Andrew said 'no, we have an idea and we think you're the man for the job'.

"He told me they wanted to give the information in the weather but for it to be a light entertainment feature as well."

In fact, before he even started his broadcasting he thought he would never make it because of his northside accent.

"When I started out in radio I remember being told 'you will never have a career because of your accent', so I spent years just trying to cover it up."

But since then Martin has gone from strength to strength, appearing on our screens every day in TV3's new Midday show as well as his weather bulletins and hit series Martin King's Commercial Breakdown.

Middday is proving a massive success for TV3 - and the team and producers celebrated with Champagne after its successful debut.

Martin said: "We got a very positive reaction judging by texts that were sent in. We popped champagne after the show but we couldn't have more than a sip because we had to go back to work."

Martin's weekend show on Today FM is also proving a great success - bringing in 141,000 listeners.

Now the dad-of-five hints he could be about to marry long-time girlfriend Jenny McCarthy.

Martin said: "Jenny and I have five children between us, we're not married. Negotiations are ongoing though."

But Jenny wasn't too impressed when Martin spilled the beans about their sex life on TV3 show Raising Children.

He told viewers how being pregnant gave him and Jenny some new tips on making love.

"We discovered a host of new ways to make love, which you'll probably carry on after the baby is born," he revealed.

But his remarks landed him in hot water. Martin said: "I got an earful alright.

"My interview was a couple of hours long, they ask you loads of questions but they might end up taking just five words from a 12 word answer.

"We all got asked does your sex life suffer during pregnancy, I said 'ah no', but they asked again so I said 'no, as the pregnancy goes on you find other ways to do what you need to do'. That came out looking like I said I learned lots of new sex tricks during pregnancy."

Luckily the King kids aren't bothered by their famous dad. In fact sometimes they don't even bother watching.

Martin said: "They're cool about it, they're not phased by it at all.

"In fact I could ring them and say 'I said hello to you on TV' and they'll say, 'I didn't see it dad, I was playing the Playstation', to them it's just dad's job."

Which could be just as well considering some of the things their father has got up to on air... Martin said: "One time at Christmas I dressed up as a Christmas tree, I couldn't see, I had no space to move my arms, I had lights wrapped all round me, but I brought in a script and decided to read it under the costume.

"Of course I dropped it 20 seconds into a three minute piece, it fell out from under my costume and flew off across the studio into the audience."

At least he has his loyal army of fans to send him in presents, but Martin says he never gets knickers in the post.

He said: "Oh God no, I get umbrellas instead, I have a big collection of them now, but no-one sends me knickers.

"Most of my audience are more mature anyway so maybe it's just as well, they'd be big parcels, let's leave it at that."