Brendan Courtney (born 24 June 1971) is an Irish TV presenter and fashion designer. He was the first openly gay presenter in Ireland. He has hosted ''

Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. The term has its roots in German Romanticism. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a chara ...

'' on

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

, ''

The Brendan Courtney Show ''The Brendan Courtney Show'' is an Irish weekly chat show hosted by Brendan Courtney.The Bre ...

'' on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

Career

Courtney began his career on

's ''

'' and

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

's ''Love Match UK''. He was the main developer of the idea of ''Wanderlust''. He previously hosted ''

The Brendan Courtney Show ''The Brendan Courtney Show'' is an Irish weekly chat show hosted by Brendan Courtney.The Bre ...

'', a prime time talk show on Ireland's

television channel. He also presented the RTÉ reality show ''Treasure Island''. In October 2006, he became the presenter on

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

's late night dating show '' Playdate''. From 2006 to 2008, he hosted and produced '' The Clothes Show'' with Caryn Franklyn and Louise Redknapp, As of Autumn 2008, he was co-hosting

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

's '' Off the Rails''. He also frequently hosted at the Clothes Show Live in Birmingham. He was on the panel of judges on Ladies' Day at the 138th RDS Horse Show on 4 August 2011. He has also judged Alternative Miss Ireland in

The George, Dublin The George is a LGBTQ bar and nightclub on South Great George's Street in the city centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is one of Ireland's oldest and biggest Gay community, gay bars and is regarded as the best known gay bar in the ...

. He is one half of design duo ''Lennon Courtney'' along with Sonya Lennon. Since 2020, he was hosted Keys To My Life on RTE1.

Activism

In August 2009, Courtney spoke at a rally in Dublin requesting full marriage equality.

Alleged homophobic assaults

Courtney was attacked in a hate crime by a stranger while walking home down South Great George's Street in Dublin in 2011, a man punched him in the face and shouted "

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

" before running away. Courtney said it was "disgraceful" that such an incident could occur in Dublin. He told ''

Liveline ''Liveline'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish radio interview and phone-in chat show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday afternoon between 13.45 and 15.00. The programme, which has been presented since 1999 by Joe Duffy, and is known for its ...

'' that more than 50 other gay people had told him of their own experiences of being assaulted or verbally abused in towns nationwide. In 2023 Courtney penned a letter to the ''Irish Examiner'' condemning an assault on a gay Navan teen and advocating for activism and community solidarity for the LGBTQ+ community. In it he recounted his own experiences being attacked as a young teen and in 2014 being punched in the face in an evidently homophobic attack. In February 2025 Courtney was attacked by three men as he walked to his home in Dublin. Courtney posited that the attack was motivated by homophobia and that the men recognised him as a TV presenter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Brendan 1972 births Irish LGBTQ broadcasters Irish gay entertainers Irish gay artists Living people People from Tallaght LGBTQ fashion designers RTÉ television presenters Television presenters from the Republic of Ireland Virgin Media Television (Ireland) presenters Victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes 21st-century Irish LGBTQ people Broadcasters from County Dublin Artists from County Dublin

Career

Activism

Alleged homophobic assaults

See also

References

External links