Phelim Drew: acclaimed theatre and voiceover actor

Do Irish viewers watching The Apprentice each week realise the man who voices the programme is none other than Phelim Drew, the son of late loved Dubliners' singer Ronnie Drew?

"Somebody accused me the other day of doing it with an English accent. They wanted to know why I was changing my accent. The reality of it is that when you are dealing with voicing on a programme they never want you to sound like you're from any region. They want you to sound corporate."

An acclaimed theatre actor with a string of roles in The Gate and The Abbey theatres, Phelim only started doing voiceover work when he and his wife, comedian Susan Collins, were expecting their first child Vivienne.

"Being a dad put a bit of a fire under me and I wanted a regular income. I got lucky then and found myself a voiceover agent who got me lots of work. I'm afraid you can't get away from me once you know my voice."

Since then, Phelim (39) has become one of Ireland's most sought after voiceover men. No surprise then Screentime ShinAwil hired the best in the business to voice their TV3 blockbuster series. In many ways he's following in his dad's footsteps, who did countless voiceovers during his long career.

Phelim said: "I remember one time I was with dad doing a voiceover. The producer was trying to direct him but in frustration gave up and said, 'Ronnie could you sound a bit more like yourself'."