Brendan Courtney (born 24 June 1971 in

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

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering ...

'' on

RTÉ Two (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 ...

, ''

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

'' 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 ...

Career

Courtney began his career on

's ''

'' and

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

'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 Bren ...

'', 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 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 five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

's late night dating show '' Playdate''. From 2006 to 2008 he hosted and produced ''

The Clothes Show ''The Clothes Show'' is a British television show about fashion that was broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000, and from 2006 on UKTV Style and Really. At its height, ''The Clothes Show'' had around 9 million viewers every Sunday night. It als ...

'' with Caryn Franklyn and Louise Redknapp, As of Autumn 2008, he was co-hosting

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

's ''

Off the Rails ''Off the Rails'' is a fashion magazine show presented by Pamela Flood and Caroline Morahan shown on RTÉ One. The show was previously presented by Liz Bonnin and Fiona McShane, before Bonnin decided to leave. In 2005, RTÉ changed the format to ...

''. He also frequently hosted at the

Clothes Show Live The Clothes Show (formerly Clothes Show Live) is a consumer exhibition brand held annually in December at the Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre. The event showcases the latest fashion, beauty and music. The Clothes Show history The f ...

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 The Alternative Miss Ireland (AMI) was an annual gay event which took place in Dublin, Ireland, on the Sunday closest to St. Patrick's Day, 17 March. It occurred over three-and-a-half hours and featured a pastiche of the beauty pageant rounds ...

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

. He is one half of design duo ''Lennon Courtney'' along with Sonya Lennon.

Personal life

In August 2009, Courtney spoke at a rally in Dublin requesting full marriage equality. He was attacked in hate crime by a stranger while walking home down

South Great George's Street South Great George's Street is a street in south-central Dublin, Ireland. History Early history and naming The area is associated with Early Scandinavian Dublin. Four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associated ...

in Dublin in 2011, a man punched him in the face and shouted "

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

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

Liveline ''Liveline'' is an 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 is currently presented by Joe Duffy and known for its slogan "Talk to Joe", seeks the ...

'' that more than 50 other gay people had told him of their own experiences of being assaulted or verbally abused in towns nationwide.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Brendan 1972 births Gay entertainers Irish LGBT broadcasters Irish LGBT entertainers Living people People from Tallaght RTÉ television presenters Television presenters from the Republic of Ireland Virgin Media Television (Ireland) presenters Victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes You're a Star contestants 21st-century LGBT people

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links