INTERVIEW: How King Kian has finally found his voice

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When reality TV star Gemma Collins quit I'm A Celebrity last week after just three days, Kian Egan was watching from the couch at his home in Essex, and he was not impressed.

The reigning jungle King, who saw his popularity soar to the dizzy heights of his Westlife days after his win last year, can't understand why the TOWIE character left the ITV series.

"The whole thing with Gemma is that she jumped the gun way too fast," Kian says.

"She didn't even get into the main camp before she was out of there and I'm really shocked at her departure, to be honest.

"Gemma obviously found it pretty traumatic but I think it does you very good as a person.

"She was fantastic entertainment and I honestly think she will regret it."

Sligo lad Kian beat off 11 other celebs - including the ever-popular Joey Essex - to emerge victorious last year.

And he has shrugged off talk from contestants, including Gemma, that those in camp in Australia are bordering on starving during their time inside.

"They don't starve you and you get enough food to survive," he says.

"Is it bland? Absolutely. Is it horrible? Yes.

"After a few days in there, I wasn't really hungry.

"As for Gemma, there's no way she was starving like people in the Third World are starving."

Although he did reach a truly low ebb one day during the show, Kian insists that quitting the popular ITV series was never something he would have done.

"Leaving was never an option for me - I loved it," says Kian.

"You definitely have points where you do think 'wow, this is really hard'.

"I remember having one day in there when I struggled but you put yourself in there and it's hardly the end of the world, you just have to suck it up.

"It's a pity that Gemma Collins didn't really."

This year, celebs including TV presenter Melanie Sykes, former soccer player Jimmy Bullard and our own Nadia Forde are being put through their paces by telly duo Ant and Dec, and Kian is chomping at the bit to get back out there.

"I'll be going out for the last few episodes and I can't wait," he says.

"I'm a little bit envious because I've had my time and it's over and done and the next bunch are in there now.

"Now I'm sitting at home in my jammies going 'ah, I wish I was there' but I'll be back there soon."

Meanwhile, Kian is juggling a daily reporting job on ITV's This Morning for I'm A Celeb and flying back to Dublin to film the new series of The Voice of Ireland.

And although he has been a coach since the show began in 2012, Kian doesn't feel that the winners of the series are getting the support they need to carve out a chart-topping career.

The names Pat Byrne, Keith Hanley and Brendan McGahey may ring a bell to TV viewers in Ireland as winners of the show, but as far as Kian is concerned, the sound of those bells is far too faint. Far from going on to achieve worldwide fame or fortune, the boys, for the most part, have faded into obscurity.

And Kian reckons the blame lies with both record company Universal Music Ireland and RTE, who he says have not been supportive as they could be of the show's winners.

"I think the record label are just doing a very bad job of it, you know?" he says.

"Ireland is a small country and there's not a huge amount of money.

"RTE don't get behind it enough and there's not enough airplay.

"It just doesn't feel like it's a group effort."

With a nod to 2014's winner Brendan McGahey, Kian asks: "You look at last year's winner who has already released his album and his single, has it gone anywhere? "If it has, I don't even know because I'm not in Ireland. Why hasn't it gone anywhere?"

He's not wrong, McGahey's debut single You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover failed to set the charts alight - climbing in at No 15 earlier this year.

Still, that was a marked improvement on 2013's winner Keith Hanley who saw his first single Beggin' debut with a dismal entry at No 37 and little else since.

The show's first winner - Carlow's Pat Byrne - remains its most successful chart-wise.

His debut single What A Wonderful World charted at No 3, with his album All or Nothing achieving a No 10 slot in Ireland.

Still, it's hardly the stuff that dreams are made of, and Kian is well aware of it.

"What's going wrong with these shows is that we are not able to launch an artist off the back of them," he says.

Kian himself has never been victorious with a singer he chose, but he feels one of his own acts - Kelly Mongan-McDonagh who finished second in 2013 - has probably fared best out of the lot.

Kelly and her family recently appeared on RTE 2 in a reality series called Meet The McDonaghs.

This year has seen the introduction of The Saturdays' Una Healy and S Club 7's Rachel Stevens as coaches alongside stalwarts Kian and Bressie.

And despite his frustrations, Kian is hoping that this year's winner might go on to set the charts alight.

"You would love to hope that this year could be different," he says.

"You'd really hope that everyone could get behind it."

Meanwhile, Kian and wife Jodi have just announced that she's pregnant with their second child, and 2015 is going to be a year very much focussed on family for the couple and their son, Koa.

"You get used to one child and then there's another one coming along and it's like 'woah, what's this going to be like?'" he laughs.

"Jodi's not due until April or May next year but Koa is going to love it and we are all really excited - we couldn't be happier about it."

Kian's most memorable moments

1997: Joins Westlife with Shane Filan and Mark Feehily from Sligo.

Brian McFadden and Nicky Byrne are later added to the boyband who are managed by Louis Walsh, signed by Sony and go on to achieve fame in the UK, Europe and Asia.

2004: Brian McFadden announces that he is going to quit Westlife and questions emerge as to whether they will continue as a foursome, but they carry on and continue to top the charts.

May 2009: Marries Jodi Albert in a star-studded ceremony in Barbados.

Spring 2012: Became a coach on 'The Voice of Ireland'.

June 2012: Westlife sensationally split and finish off their career with two shows at Croke Park. Over the course of their 14-year career, the band have 14 No1s and sell 50 million records worldwide.

July 2012: Kian lands a spot presenting on ITV's 'This Morning'.

December 2012: Jodi gives birth to the couple's first son, Koa in Sligo General Hospital.

November 2013: Kian enters the jungle as a contestant in 'I'm A Celeb' and wins.

March 2014: Kian lands a record deal with Warner music. His debut album 'Home' is released and goes to No2 in Irish charts and No9 in UK.

November 2014: Announces wife Jodi is pregnant with their second child.

Source: Irish Independent independent.ie