Paul Byrom: As the average 43-year-old goes, I think I’m doing good
Paul Byrom
Irish tenor Paul Byrom is coming towards the end of what has been a busy year and soon will be back on stage at the Helix for this year’s Christmas Panto,
The 43-year-old lives in Dublin with his partner Catherine, who he has been with for three years. Two of those years were, of course, during the Covid-19 lockdown when the pair moved in together once Byrom returned home from the States as everything began to shut down.
“We were literally living in each other’s pockets for two years, but we told ourselves if we survived that — pretty good odds [we would stay together], ” he jokes.
The pair love to travel together one thing that helps the Dubliner unwind after a busy day is a walk with Catherine and his dog, Bradley.
"We would both love walking. We live quite near Ticknock so we grab Bradley and off we go," he says. "Walking is a big part of our daily routine. We catch up with each other.”
- The Helix Panto ‘Hansel & Gretel,’ will run from November 25 – January 15. Tickets are available now at TheHelix.ie.
I’m in pretty good nick. I’m 43 years of age so my objective is to be able to wear budgie smugglers every summer in a non-ironic way. I would work out five days a week, maybe six if it’s a good week.
As the average 43-year-old goes, I think I’m doing well. I’m not going to be on the cover of anytime soon, but I think, by and large, I’m doing OK.
I get up in the morning, I have my two Nespressos and a banana and I sit and read emails.
We’re [Catherine and I] pretty good at eating well Monday to Friday. On Saturday, we’ll take the foot off the pedal a bit and then Sunday, we’ll get back on the horse. I think as you get older, you have to find that balance between training and eating enough, as opposed to eating too little.
Anything savoury. If you put a family pack of peanuts in front of me, I’ll eat the whole family pack. It’s a major challenge for me whereas I could live without chocolate for the rest of my life.
If I’ve got gigs coming up and I’m selling tickets. I’m constantly worrying - are we selling enough, have we broken even yet? Especially coming up to a tour.
There’s one lad I came across during Covid - Colin Judge. He is a Paralympian for Ireland; plays table tennis and was born with one arm. I had an Instagram chat with him for about an hour one day and he is probably one of the most inspiring young lads I have ever come across.
I love Christmas trees and the smell of them. I remember as a young lad being heartbroken when my mother came in one Christmas with a fecking fake tree. I couldn’t believe it.
There’s a TV show on Channel 4, ... I always try and avoid watching it with Catherine because, by the end of it, I am bawling. The last time I cried was at the weekend because I watched two episodes of the show. It was a little beagle, and they couldn’t find a home for it. Oh, dear God, I was in bits.
My stubbornness probably and my overcommitment to Liverpool football club.
It was said kind of jokingly as a joke and not with much weight in it but when I heard it, I just clung to it: We’re here for a good time, not a long time. In recent years, that has meant more because we’ve lost one or two people that we knew through cancer and they were very young and it stopped me in my tracks.
I travel a lot with Catherine, and we’ve been to some amazing places. I love seeing new places - I think possibly my favourite place hasn’t been discovered yet.