Brian Patrick Robert Dowling (born 13 June 1978) is an Irish television presenter. He rose to fame after winning the

second series The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

of reality series ''

Big Brother Big Brother may refer to: * Big Brother (''Nineteen Eighty-Four''), a character from George Orwell's novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' ** Authoritarian personality, any omnipresent figure representing oppressive control ** Big Brother Awards, a sat ...

'', and went on to win '' Ultimate Big Brother'' in 2010. In 2007, he came third in '' Hell's Kitchen'' and in 2008, he was runner-up in the Irish reality television series ''

Fáilte Towers ''Fáilte Towers'' is a reality TV show broadcast that aired on RTÉ during August 2008 on RTÉ. The concept involved thirteen celebrities running a hotel for sixteen days and nights in order to win money for their designated charities. The sh ...

''. Dowling then guest-presented '' Live from Studio Five'' alongside Kate Walsh from 2010 until its cancellation in February 2011. On 22 July 2011, it was confirmed that Dowling would become the new host of ''Big Brother'' upon its transfer to Channel 5, replacing

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was the presenter of the reality show ''Big Brother (UK), Big Brother'' during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She also hosted Channel 4's '' ...

. After presenting two editions of ''Big Brother'' and four editions of '' Celebrity Big Brother'', Channel 5 confirmed in April 2013 that Dowling was to be replaced by

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

Early life

Dowling was born on 13 June 1978 in Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland. Before he entered the public eye, he trained as a holiday rep and air steward, working as a flight attendant for

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

. He came out as gay to his parents two days before appearing in ''Big Brother'' in 2001.

''Big Brother''

Dowling was the winner of series 2 of ''

'', beating Helen Adams in the final and polling 4,231,660 votes (58%) out of a total 7,255,094. In 2010, Brian returned to compete in the final ''Big Brother'' on Channel 4 and he became the '' Ultimate Big Brother'' Housemate. Brian spent a total of 82 days in the Big Brother house, 64 for his original stay and later 18 days for ''Ultimate Big Brother''.

Media career

Dowling followed ''Big Brother'' by presenting '' SMTV Live'', becoming the first openly gay children's television presenter. He also presented his own show on ITV, ''Brian's Boyfriends'', as well as narrating the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

reality series '' The Salon''. In 2002, Brian co-hosted the Elle Style Awards with

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

presenter Jo Whiley. In 2003, he joined Duncan James and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson in presenting the ''

NOW Magazine ''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Throughout most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspen ...

Style Awards'', where he also won the award for Most Stylish UK Personality. Dowling regularly stood in for Liz Bonnin on LivingTV's '' Celebrity Extra'' show in 2004. He has also voiced numerous adverts and TV series and has presented the companion show to '' I'm Famous and Frightened!'' In July 2005, Dowling fronted the ''Party in the Park'' concert in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

with ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

s Nikki Sanderson. He then went on to front the Irish ''O2 in the Park'' concert, in

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tr ...

, Dublin, alongside

Fran Cosgrave Fran Cosgrave (born 30 December 1977) is an Irish nightclub owner, known for appearing on reality television programmes and being a former bodyguard for the boyband Westlife. Biography Cosgrave won the first season of ITV's ''Celebrity Love Isl ...

and

Caroline Morahan Caroline Morahan is an Irish actress and television host. In 2010, she was chosen as the face of Littlewoods Ireland. Early life Caroline Morahan graduated from Dublin City University with a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies, ear ...

in August 2005. Dowling also hosted a showbiz slot on Vernon Kay's

Saturday morning show from October 2004 to September 2006. In October 2005, Dowling presented a series of special Christmas features as part of Sky Digital's interactive platform programming, titled ''Christmas Wrapped Up'', in which he reviewed and helped to promote products that were available for purchase in the shopping areas of Sky Digital's

Sky Active Sky Active was the brand name for interactive features on Sky Digital and was available in the UK and Ireland. It enabled a viewer to interact with TV content, respond to an advertisement or access internet-based services. History and techn ...

service. Dowling was reintroduced as a presenter on ITV in March 2006 when the network launched its ITV Play subsidiary. Along with six others, Dowling was signed up as a presenter of the network's interactive gamble based telephone show '' The Mint''. The game show ran till 2007. In October 2007, Dowling and his family appeared on '' All Star Family Fortunes'', where they won £4,660 for charity. Dowling was a contestant in the ITV reality series '' Hell's Kitchen'' during September 2007, where he finished in third place. Following on from this, in August 2008, Dowling was a contestant in the Irish reality television show, ''

'', where he and 12 other celebrities had to take on the roles of hotel staff. He came second to John Creedon. He then went on to become a contestant on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

's ''Celebrity Salon'', in which he and several other Irish celebrities (Pippa O'Connor, Leigh Arnold, Virginia Macari,

Celia Holman Lee Celia Holman Lee (born 2 December 1950) is an Irish model, fashion stylist and television presenter who was born in Ballynanty, Limerick City. Career Celia Holman Lee started out as a model at the age of 15 while still at school after being appro ...

and Breffny Morgan) learn the tools of the beauty trade. ''Celebrity Salon'' began airing on in June 2010. Tasks included giving facials, waxing, performing cosmetic surgery, hairdressing and styling. He also appeared in a special episode of '' Come Dine with Me'', alongside three other previous winners of ''Big Brother'' and was declared the winner. Dowling was crowned ''Ultimate Big Brother'' housemate on 10 September 2010 at the end of the '' Ultimate Big Brother'' series that saw the end of ''Big Brother''s transmission on

. Following this he has appeared as co-host alongside Katherine Lynch on the RTÉ2 series ''Wagons Den''. On 22 July 2011, after months of speculation, it was confirmed that Dowling would become the new presenter of the revived series of ''Big Brother'' on Channel 5. He presented four celebrity series in August/September 2011, January 2012, August/September 2012 and January 2013, and two series of the main show in 2011 and 2012. He was replaced as presenter of ''Big Brother'' by

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

for Series 14, which started in June 2013. Dowling has also had numerous appearances on ''

This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * '' CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succe ...

'', presenting segments on the show. Since 2014, Dowling has presented the TV3 game show ''Sitting on a Fortune'' in Ireland. In 2020, Dowling participated in the

fourth series Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of the Irish edition of ''Dancing with the Stars''. Dowling was paired with

Laura Nolan Laura Nolan (born 31 May 1994) is an Irish ballroom dancer and choreographer. Early life Nolan was born in Lucan in Dublin. She is trained in ballroom, latin and ballet dancing. Professional career Nolan first began dancing competitively at ...

. On 6 February 2020, Dowling and Kai Widdrington were announced by

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

as the first male same-sex dance partners on the show during switch-up week. Dowling was eliminated from the competition in the first dance-off of the series on 16 February 2020.

Theatre

Dowling has appeared in popular Irish Christmas pantomimes, at

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

's Tivoli Theatre. In December 2008 – January 2009, he starred as the evil

Captain Hook Captain James Hook is a fictional character and the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play '' Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate capt ...

in Anthem Productions' presentation of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

''. Since then, Dowling has had the new character "Bridie" created for him, appearing in 2009's ''Cinderella'' and 2010's ''Beauty and the Beast''.

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Brian 1978 births Living people Big Brother (British TV series) winners Gay entertainers LGBT broadcasters from Ireland LGBT entertainers from Ireland Participants in Irish reality television series People from County Kildare Television presenters from the Republic of Ireland 21st-century LGBT people