Our hearts will be healed by the memories

FORMER Dancing With The Stars judge Julian Benson was remembered as a man who spread “fun, joy and positivity everywhere he went" at his funeral yesterday.

- BY SANDRA MALLON Showbiz Editor

The much-loved 54-year-old died “very peacefully” on April 18 surrounded by his family in St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin.

The Australian-born Irish talent agent was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was two years old.

Last year he received a kidney transplant which he described as “the best Christmas present”.

Mourners from the world of TV and radio, including Nicky Byrne and Arthur Gourounilian, arrived for his Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

His brother Aidan told the congregation in a tearful tribute: “He loved the fact that he stood out, I was horrified. ‘Go big or go home’, Julian would say, I was [always] trying to fly below the radar.

“Julian was passionate, he spread joy, fun, positivity and happiness in his public and private life. What you saw is what you got. He was an inspiration to me and many others as he did not allow his illness to hold him back.

“He was a family man. His nieces and nephews loved the fact of having a famous uncle.