Kian John Francis Egan (born 29 April 1980) is an Irish musician, best known as a former member of boy band Westlife. He is a coach on The Voice of Ireland and won the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2013.
Music career
1997-2012: Westlife and Wonderland
Main article: WestlifeNot only was he in Westlife, but Egan was also part of a pop group called IOYOU with fellow Westlife members Mark Feehily and Shane Filan, as well as Graham Keighron, Michael "Miggles" Garrett and Derrick Lacey. Egan, during a year long hiatus from Westlife in 2008, launched a new venture with Louis Walsh to put together and co-manage girlband, Wonderland. Their debut album reached number 6 on the Irish Albums Chart and number 8 on the UK Albums Chart, however, just four months later, they were dropped by Mercury Records.
2014: Home
Main article: HomeIt was announced in January 2014 that Egan had signed to Rhino Records of Warner Music Group and his debut album Home was released on 14 March in Ireland and 17 March in the UK, the song is 3:43 seconds long. His debut single "Home", a cover of the track by band Daughtry, had its first exclusive play on BBC Radio 2 on lunch time with Terry Wogan's show. The album has peaked to number 2 on the Irish Singles Chart and number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. In May 2014, Egan released "I'll Be" as the second single from the album, a cover of the track by Edwin McCain.
Television career
Egan is one of four coaches on The Voice of Ireland. However, his dreams of winning the show went to tatters as he threw his lot in with Jim Devine, from Northern Ireland. This immediately put him at a disadvantage to the other contestants as, ahead of the final, viewers in Northern Ireland could not download his single, the tally of which contributed to his vote. Egan was left fuming and in need of support from Sharon Corr as he expressed his opinion on the unfairness of it all and had "huge rows" about it but to no avail.
In June 2012, Egan announced in an interview with the Sunday Life that he was "looking at doing a TV show with Sky on surfing". Later reports suggested that the show would be eight episodes long and would broadcast on Sky1 later in the year.
In July 2012, Egan presented This Morning's Hub on a regular basis, standing in for the regular hosts. Later that year, every Friday morning in October, he began giving reports on This Morning about the remaining contestants in the ninth series of The X Factor, before the competition's live shows that weekend.
On 21 October 2012, Egan co-presented the revamped version of Surprise Surprise, but did not return the following year.
On 17 November 2013, Egan took part in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and on 8 December, he was crowned King of the Jungle.
From 5 to 9 January 2015, Egan and Angela Griffin co-hosted Fat Pets: Slimmer of the Year on ITV.
Personal life
Egan was born to Patricia and Kevin (d. 2009). He is the fifth of seven children. He attended Summerhill College secondary school in Sligo, where he met fellow band members Mark Feehily and Shane Filan. He is the cousin of Filan's wife, Gillian Walsh.
Egan married English actress and Girl Thing and Wonderland member Jodi Albert on 8 May 2009. Egan's father was unhappy with their partnership but still tried to attend the marriage ceremony after being diagnosed with a brain tumour, but died shortly after. On 31 July 2011, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. Westlife's official Facebook page announced that Albert had given birth to a baby boy, Koa on 20 December 2011. The family live in Strandhill, County Sligo. On 15 November 2014, the pair announced they were expecting their second child in the spring. On 21 May 2015, Egan and his wife welcomed a second son, Zekey.
In his free time, Egan enjoys surfing. Egan spoke of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa but said he would not go after the Republic of Ireland national football team was eliminated from the tournament after Thierry Henry's "Le Hand of God" handball.
Egan was ranked number five on Ireland's Sexiest Man of 2014.
Discography
See also: Westlife discographyStudio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
IRE |
UK |
SCO |
||
Home |
|
2 | 9 | 6 |
Singles
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IRE |
UK |
||||||||||||||||
2014 | "Home" | 89 | 156 | Home | |||||||||||||
"I'll Be" | - | 71 | |||||||||||||||
"—" denotes a single that did not chart. |
Filmography
- Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Louis Walsh & Kian Egan's Next Big Thing - Wonderland | Co-star | With Louis Walsh |
2012— | The Voice of Ireland | Coach/Judge | |
2012—2014 | This Morning | Hub presenter and reporter | |
2012 | Surprise Surprise | Reporter | |
2013 | I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | Contestant | Won the series |
2015 | Fat Pets: Slimmer of the Year | Presenter | With Angela Griffin |
- Guest appearances
- Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong (31 October 2008) - Guest
- Lorraine (15 November 2010, 7 March 2011) - Guest
- Celebrity Juice (23 December 2010, 5 April 2012, 13 March 2014) - Panellist
- Loose Women (14 November 2011) - Guest
- Daybreak (9 November 2012) - Guest
- Fake Reaction (24 January 2013) - Guest
- 8 Out of 10 Cats (8 February 2013) - Panellist
- Your Face Sounds Familiar (27 July 2013) - Guest judge
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (19 December 2013) - Contestant with Rebecca Adlington
- The Cube: Celebrity Special (22 February 2014) - Contestant
- The Wright Stuff (28 March 2014) - Panellist
- The Guess List (3 May 2014) - Guest
- Sunday Brunch (4 May 2014) - Guest
- Weekend (10 May 2014) - Guest
- TV OD (5 June 2014) - Guest
- All Star Mr & Mrs (25 June 2014) - Contestant