07 March 2024 , 11:12
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Louis Walsh has only been in the Celebrity Big Brother house for three days and has already caused a stir with viewers at home.
The former X Factor judge, 71, was the second star to enter the house after Sharon Osbourne and was tasked with assisting her in choosing three stars to be potentially evicted. He helped the wife of Ozzy Osbourne choose Gary Goldsmith, Zeze Millz and Colson Smith to be those in the firing line but threw her under the bus when talking to fellow housemates.
He's also, unknowingly to him, feuding with Colson's Coronation Street co-star Sally Ann Matthews who called him 'vile' after watching his shady behaviour in the house. Louis has been a controversial figure over the years and has been keeping it lowkey since leaving The X Factor and Ireland's Got Talent.
While many people know him for sitting on the X Factor panel, he's also a talent manager who managed the likes of Boyzone, Jedward, Westlife and Johnny Logan. With his endless TV appearances and work with successful boybands, it's no surprise he's got an astounding net worth of £89million.
Louis Walsh in 1988 (Getty Images)
He formed Boyzone after wanting to create an Irish Take That (Getty Images)Louis was born in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, in 1952 to parents Maureen and Frank Walsh and is one of seven siblings. In the early 90s, Louis wanted to kickstart his career in the music industry and moved to Dublin. He had the goal of creating an Irish version of the iconic band Take That - which consisted of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Robbie Williams and Jason Orange.
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He soon started advertising the open auditions and ended up with Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch and Ronan Keating together as Boyzone. He managed the group to international success with 16 top-three singles, six of which were number-one, and four number-one albums. The band sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
When Ronan stepped back from Boyzone, Louis continued to manage his career. It wasn't the only band Louis created as he soon formed Westlife - which Ronan co-managed with Louis for the first few albums. In 2001, Louis started his television work in the Irish version of Popstars. He went on to become a judge on UK ITV's Popstars: The Rivals before appearing in the shows we know him from.
Along with Boyzone, he managed Bellefire, Six, Girls Aloud, Union J and Myles and Connor. Away from music management and TV, Louis has been quiet about his love life and refuses to talk about his relationships. From what we know, the star has never been married.
In an interview with the Sunday Times in 2013, Louis was asked about his love life and said: “I can't... Don't go there. I can't. I think your private life is your private life... I'm happy.”