Tipperary's 2 Johnnies speak candidly about fertility and parenthood in new podcast episode

The 2 Johnnies released a special 2-hour episode of their podcast series yesterday, in which Johnny Smacks discusses the birth of his son JJ candidly with listeners. 

The episode was released on Monday December 15 after he had made a shock baby announcement at their sold-out 3 Arena gig on Saturday night in Dublin.

He announced that his son JJ was born with gastroschisis and speaks about it in more depth on the episode, as well as the couples fertility journey before welcoming son JJ.

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Gastroschisis, which affects about one in every 5,000 babies, is a condition where the intestines protrude through a hole in the abdominal wall, near the belly button, because the tummy ­muscles didn’t fully form.

He first spoke on the podcast about the emotional roller coaster that was his and Annie’s fertility journey.

“We were trying and trying. The whole fertility journey is something that lads don’t talk about. We were trying for a year and a half and didn’t know what the problem was and I didn’t want to say it to any of the boys.

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“I did an at home fertility test. I want to talk about it because I’m sure that there’s other lads going through this.” he said.

Johnny Smacks then discusses the low sperm count these home tests said he had and he then contacted a fertility clinic in Cork.

“The doctor confirmed that my sperm count was very low. We were then talking to a couple who had just conceived and they told us to try Royal Jelly. We were filming a fitness documentary at the time too and I gave up the drink then too. We then found out that Annie was pregnant when we came back from America,” he told the podcast.

“When we were told there was something wrong at the 14 week scan, we were both devastated. We were told normally after the baby is born there’s an operation to put the intestines back in and in most cases, kids live a totally normal life afterwards,” he said.

“I researched what it was and I’m glad I did. I looked at photos and watched documentaries on it,” he explained.

“Your first baby is going to be a scary journey anyway, because it’s unknown. It was quite scary for me because I don’t like the unknown. It was quite overwhelming for us as we were doing our house up at the time too.”

When discussing his son JJ’s birth, Johnny Smacks said that the doctors were worried about letting him go to full term due to his condition.

“He was born premature and they know he couldn’t go to full term because of the gastroschisis, they didn’t want the bowl to become too big or wrap around him, or become inflamed or pitched. It’s outside the body and obviously the bigger it gets, the smaller the space. We knew he was going to come early,” he said.

Daddy Smacks then told the podcast that there were some sad things to come later but he first wanted to tell a lighter story about the couple’s first prenatal class.

After having someone come to their home to give them the class, Johnny Smacks boasts about his nappy changing skills.

“We changed the nappy on a doll. I had all the techniques down. She didn’t say it, but I knew she was thinking that’s probably the best nappy change that I’ve seen of a doll,” he tells the podcast.

Johnny said he then fell asleep during a meditation session at the end of the class.

Johnny Smacks then spoke about how himself and Annie moved to Dublin before JJ arrived.

“We checked into an apartment in Dublin and made the decision that we’d stay in Dublin until JJ is home. We thought that would be six or eight weeks, roughly.

“We had hoped it would be six to eight weeks, everything going well. We were nervous,” he said.

“We were then told he had a pinch on his bowel so a natural birth was off the table. We met different consultants after that and were told on Wednesday she was having a C-Section. It was a lot of information for us to take in.”

“They then transferred JJ to Crumlin in a baby ambulance. Annie got to see him just before he went and she got to hold his hand and say goodbye to him, because obviously she wasn’t going to see him for a couple of days, which is really hard. She said she felt helpless.”

“He had the first operation and they said he did ok.”

The 2 Johnnies then mention that they had to reschedule their Australian tour due to JJ being in hospital.

“I don’t know when JJ’s going to get out. He’ll be in hospital in Dublin for another while, definitely over Christmas and into the New Year,” Johnny Snacks said.

CHARITY SHOW

Smacks is incredibly proud of Annie and JJ and the new family are looking forward to getting JJ home when he is ready. As a thank you for the care that JJ has received in his early weeks, the 2Johnnies are organising a charity family show in 3Arena Easter Monday next year with proceeds going to Children’s Health Foundation.

Johnny Smacks said: “I want to give a massive thank-you to the amazing staff in Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin. The care, support, and kindness they’ve shown us has been outstanding, and we’ll never be able to thank them enough.

Most of all, I want to say how proud I am of Annie. She’s been incredible throughout everything - strong, calm, and absolutely heroic. J.J. is lucky to have her as his mam. For now, we’re just taking it all in, celebrating our little man, and looking forward to bringing him home when he’s ready.”

Johnny B shared that he was over the moon for the new parents. "I’m over the moon for Smacks and Annie, they will be great parents. They’ve been unreal the last few months. That child is gonna have the best runners in Ireland."

Tickets for The 2 Johnnies and the Junior B All Stars on sale next Thursday. This fully seated all ages show, in aid of CHI, 3 Arena Monday April 6 2026.