Sharon Horgan: Parenting not sugar-coated on Motherland

Sharon Horgan has said her TV series Motherland offers an honest look at parenting because the BBC did not force her to “sugar-coat” it.

The writer and actress’s comedy is about the ups and downs of middle-class motherhood.

Horgan tried to make it in America but said it did not work as she was not able to show the “dirty side” of being a parent across the pond.

Horgan told Radio Times magazine: “I’m amazed that the BBC let us do whatever we wanted; there’s no sugar-coating it.

“There’s no, ‘Right, in this episode can you make sure you give your daughter her five-a-day’.

“It’s just showing the sort of… hell of it.

“We actually did a really early version of it in the US for ABC but it didn’t work because we were monitored so heavily and weren’t able to show the dirty side of parenting.”

Mother-of-two Horgan said she is far from an “alpha mum” in her own life.

She said: “To be honest, I’m surprised that I enjoy being a mum so much. I thought I was entirely non-maternal.

“I remember telling my sister I was pregnant and her genuine shock – I mean, I was shocked as well. So I never aimed to be a perfect mum.”

:: The Radio Times is on sale on Tuesday.