Radio star PJ Gallagher has reflected on the joy he feels being an older dad, as he admits he wouldn’t have been around for his kids if he had them younger.

PJ is dad to twins, Milo and Stevie, with his partner Kelly Doolin. The twins were born in August 2023, with PJ announcing their birth live on Radio Nova’s Morning Glory show alongside his co-host Jim McCabe at the time.

The Dubliner turned 51-years-old this year, and PJ admitted he doesn’t regret not having kids when he was younger.

The 51-year-old told EVOKE: ‘It’s fine. I’m old to be starting fatherhood. I’m going to be one of them that when I’m at the school gates, they will think I’m the grandad.

‘But my energy levels are fine. I like it. It’s gas, even when you think you’re doing well, someone will always say, “Jesus, you were old enough getting into this game,” and especially, I have friends whose sons are starting to go bald, and I’m only starting.

‘It’s a long road ahead. But things happen at the right time. I wouldn’t have got to do half the things I did, like motorbike racing or being on the road with stand-up all the time… I wouldn’t have been able to put as much time into the kids as I can now.

‘Not with all the racing, stand-up and TV I was doing. There is no right time, but this is the better time,’ he said.

PJ was speaking ahead of his new six-part RTÉ show, Random Driving Test, which visits 12 different driving test routes around Ireland, challenging experienced licensed drivers from all walks of life to get back in the test seat and prove they still have what it takes.

From racing drivers and bus drivers to nervous drivers, confident drivers, tractor drivers and petrolheads – everyone thinks they can still pass. But can they?

From Naas to Navan, Cork to Kilkenny, Dublin to Limerick, drivers are put through their paces on real test routes, facing hill starts, turnabouts, reversing around corners, tricky junctions, roundabouts, traffic lights – and a surprise hazard or two along the way.

Keeping a close eye on it all is our resident Super Tester, Brian Harnett – a former senior RSA tester who has conducted over 25,000 driving tests.

Brian is there to make sure the standards are real, the faults are fair – and nobody gets away with a dodgy mirror check.

Each driver starts with €1,000. For every fault, they lose €100. If they clock up nine faults, they fail and leave with nothing.

Speaking about the new show, PJ said: ‘There is just fun in judgement… I think there will be a lot of that in this series.

‘Instead of someone sitting in a car and judging them, they will be sitting on their couch and judging someone.

‘Some of the personalities in the show, you get to like them, and you hopefully root for them.

‘We have so many bad habits. You see more on a bike than you see anywhere… the amount of people looking at their phones, it’s wild.

‘I don’t think the standard of driving in this country, but their patience is frayed more than anything else. Every time a light goes red, three or four people go through it anyway. It is mad out there.’

The Random Driving Test airs Thursdays, RTÉ One, at 7pm.