Seán Munsanje (born 10 July 1981) is an Irish television presenter from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He has presented shows for several channels in his native country, including Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Channel 6 and, most recently,

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 ...

. On 11 August 2009, he won the TV3

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

programme, '' Total Xposure'', thus becoming the new presenter of the channel's prime time entertainment magazine programme '' Xposé''. A public vote saw him beat Simon Atkins and Ruth O'Neill in the final on 11 August 2009. Munsanje thus became the first ever male presenter of ''Xposé ''. He also was manager of temporary radio station for LGBT community, Pride Vibes in 2023 and 2024.

Career

Education and early career

Munsanje was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and Zambian father. He spent his early years in Zambia and England, before his family returned to Ireland in 1993. Munsanje attended St. Flannan's College in

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engi ...

, and the

National University of Ireland, Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

, where he earned a degree in Media Studies. He has presented for both

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� ...

and Channel 6. On ''TTV'', he presented a ‘gig guide' each week for the former, while he presented the film show ''Take Six'' for the latter. He is also the resident movie critic on Dublin radio station FM104.

''Total Xposure''

Musanje was one of ten hopefuls who took part in ''Total Xposure'' aiming to win a prize of a presenting contract with TV3. He has said he rang his parents, who were holidaying in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, throughout the show and they flew in especially to attend the final. He was named the new host of ''Xposé'' live on television after the final results show of ''Total Xposure'' on 11 August 2009. He had been the "hot favourite" to win the show, with one bookmaker paying out early to those who had gambled on him. He was awarded a six-month contract in television presenting worth €20,000 and was welcomed by his fellow ''Xposé'' presenters afterwards. Producer Debbie O'Donnell later spoke of her delight to have a male working on ''Xposé''. Munsanje was soon being approached by strangers and offered free items of clothing. Following the show, he stated that he had not at that stage finalised his salary. On 5 July 2010, it was announced that Munsanje would leave the show at the end of August, a year after he won '' Total Xposure''.

Personal life

Munsanje married his partner, Chris Doyle, in 2013. In 2015, he and Doyle had a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munsanje, Sean 1981 births Living people Alumni of Maynooth University Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth FM104 presenters Irish gay entertainers Irish people of Zambian descent Irish television personalities Irish LGBTQ broadcasters Participants in Irish reality television series People educated at St Flannan's College Broadcasters from County Dublin Reality show winners RTÉ television presenters Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology