We were given a serious blast from X Factor past earlier today.
Yes, SHEmazing! met up with none-other than the still-gorgeous winner of the second series, Shayne Ward.
After recently signing a year-long contract with Ireland’s favourite soap, Coronation Street, the singer-turned-actor was on-hand in Dublin to help launch the new season schedule for UTV Ireland.
But fans of the That’s My Goal singer’s tunes need not fret: the 30-year-old isn’t leaving behind his first love just yet.
“No way am I saying goodbye to the music stuff, not at all,” he told SHEmazing!
Turning 31 in three weeks’ time, he added: “I have a new single – Moving Target – landing on my birthday and I'm still doing gigs at the weekend.”
Shayne, who happily sipped on a Guinness while conducting interviews, had earlier found himself surrounded by Dublin’s very own version of Corrie’s Rovers Return – ordinarily The Bath on Bath Ave.
He was also joined by the soap’s Richard Hawley and Faye Brookes.
Last night, the show’s fans had been treated to a special hour-long live episode – and UTV Ireland said today that some 600,000 people had tuned in.
“It was a lot of pressure but it was great,” Mr Ward, who plays Aidan Connor, said of the Coronation Street special. “The whole cast celebrated afterwards."
And, understandably, he embraced the live element enthusiastically.
"I also did a show on the West End so yes, it came naturally,” he added. “But so much pressure too – everything really is make or break.”
And while today represented very much a flying visit for Shayne, he said that he ultimately wants to settle down in Ireland.
He told Goss.ie that Dublin is a “home from home,” and that he holds an Irish passport.
“I love it,” he added. “My whole family were born and bred here, I’ve always wanted to move here since I was kid, my mum was going to bring us over here when I was 10.
“Who knows, maybe in the future I would love to just settle down somewhere Ireland.”
UTV Ireland shows for the forthcoming season include the likes of the six-part Daniel And Majella’s B&B Road Trip, which hits screens in mid-October.
Lorraine Keane will also be back with the celeb-focused The Interview, and Jenny Buckley will continue to present entertainment bulletin, The Pulse.
Otherwise stables such as I’m A Celebrity, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, and Graham Norton all feature.
