Dancing on Ice contestants: Who is former Westlife singer Brian McFadden?
Brian McFadden swaps singing for skating for the 11th series of Dancing on Ice
Dancing on Ice 2019 contestants: Brian McFadden
Age: 38
Known For: Early naughties fame in Westlife before becoming a TV judge and presenter
Twitter: @BrianMcFadden
Instagram: @brianmcfadden123
Professional dance partner: Alex Murphy
Why is Brian McFadden famous?
Irish crooner Brian McFadden first shot to fame when he successfully auditioned to be part of Louis Walsh-backed boyband Westlife.
The squeaky-clean group had a series of hits, including a cover of Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl, a song which shot to the top 10 across seven European countries.
But after four albums Brian surprised fans by quitting the band in 2004, embarking on a solo career which had a promising start with number one hit Real to Me, the first single from his debut album Irish Son. Subsequent releases have yet to make a splash in the UK, but Brian has since released three more albums – the latest of which features covers and duets with fellow Irish boybander Ronan Keating from Boyzone and Sinead O’Connor.
Following his split with his wife – Atomic Kitten singer Kelly Katona – in 2004, Brian started dating Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem, following their duet together on Almost Here.
He launched a fledgling TV career in Australia – starting out on sports show Football Superstar, he then starred as a guest judge on Australian Idol in 2009, before taking on a judging role full time on Australia’s Got Talent, alongside Dannii Minogue until 2012.
Heading back to the UK, Brian, who married Irish model Vogue Williams in 2012, went on to star as a contestant on short-lived entertainment show Stepping Out where, alongside Vogue, he was taught to dance.
He landed his own daytime show in 2014 – a seriously underrated hybrid of Come Dine With Me and Through the Keyhole, Who’s Doing the Dishes saw Brian lead four hopefuls to a celebrity’s house to eat a slap-up meal with the team having to guess whose house they were in.
He then took to the world’s most dangerous reality show, The Jump, in 2016, voted out fourth shortly after falling over and injuring himself – not on the slopes, but at the bar.
What ice skating experience does Brian McFadden have?
Nothing hugely impressive unfortunately, only managing one go on the rink with his children when visiting a Christmas market after a few wines.
“I thought I was dancing with one of my kids, it turns out it was actually a plastic penguin,” he explained. Not the best of starts.
But judging by his smooth moves at the press day, could Brian be a secret natural?
Dancing on Ice returns Sunday 6th January at 6pm on ITV
