The Den insight!

Francis Boylan reveals what its like working in RTE and how a Leitrim person survives working with Dustin.

Francis has presented the Den along with Dustin and Socky for 2 years. It’s obvious he loves it. “One of the best aspects of the job is getting to meet loads of famous people.”

Like who?

“Ricky Gervais, Tom Hanks, Julia Stiles, Brian O'Driscoll … another great thing is getting out and around Ireland, meeting all the kids.”

Are there any bad aspects?

“The only bad thing would be the slagging I get everyday about being from Leitrim!” he says with a grin. “Ah but sure I’m well able for it.”

And he must be, having gotten this far. He endured a gruelling three-round audition process, in which he had to ad-lib with Dustin and Socky. Most people, though, on hearing about the first audition tape he sent in along with the application form, would say he had it in the bag.

“I knew everyone else would just be sitting in front of the camera going blah blah blah, so I decided to build a story around it … I made out I was a turkey farmer in Leitrim, wanting to move to Dublin, and said sure I’d be able to mind Dustin while I’m there.”

A few weeks later, he got a phone call. Then came the auditions, which were “pretty tough.”

“I was very nervous before each audition, I actually got sick one morning before it but then as soon as I got in behind the desk and started it I just felt completely natural, like it was the place I was supposed to be.”

Who’s the best guest he’s had on the Den?

“Ricky Gervais was pretty cool, really funny, a lot like David Brent. He was so down to earth and so nice. Lemarr was good, so was Tom Hanks. Brian O’Driscoll was really funny, he just stared at Dustin throughout the whole interview, didn’t look at me once.”

Worst guest?

“I won’t say who but it was one of the girls from Girls Aloud. Yeah, she was … pretty darn tricky … very dismissive, didn’t make any eye contact. Just acted very bored and above everything.”

Is there a lot of preparation?

“Yes. The golden rule- always be prepared. Usually everything works perfect because everything’s nailed down beforehand, but if something happens, like we don’t know until the last second whether or not someone will be available for the interview or not, that can be a bit nerve-wracking…the lucky thing with the Den is that I always have Dustin and Socky to fall back on, I’m not on my own.”

While at school, did he have any idea he wanted to be a presenter?

“I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to be until my first year in college! In school, I thought maybe, computer programming, maybe … I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d be working on the Den.”

He talks about the perks that come with the job. “You get into night clubs free and stuff like that, but the best thing is being recognised. Anyone who says they don’t like getting recognised is talking out their hat. It’s great, it’s one of the nicest things ever, when someone comes up to you and says they like what you do, or whatever.”

And the future looks bright. “We’ll be launching a new show in the autumn, I can’t really say much about it yet as I don’t want to jinx it, but hopefully it’ll follow through and be really good.”

Vist the Den website at http://www.rte.ie/tv/theden/

By: Miriam Needham

The opinions of writers featured on SpunOut.ie do not necessarily reflect the views of the SpunOut.ie team or those of Community Creations. We try to give everyone a chance to have their opinions heard but we are not responsible for inaccuracies contained within these.