Strictly's Nicky Byrne given fake tan order

Strictly's Nicky Byrne given fake tan order
Strictly's Nicky Byrne given fake tan order

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Nicky Byrne has revealed that show bosses ordered him to get a fake tan after branding him 'too pasty'. The Westlife singer, who performed the rumba with partner Karen Hauer on Saturday night's show, admitted that he had tried to avoid the process until show producers stepped in. "I’d never had a spray tan. On week one I could hear the fake tan lady coming down the corridor saying 'next is Nicky', so I ran out the door into my car," he admitted. "But then the following week the make-up artist said 'Nicky you’ve got to get a spray tan' and I was like 'No, I'm fine thanks'. "But she said 'No, no – it's come from upstairs, you're looking too pasty and white. You have to get one'." Nicky also revealed that his former manager Louis Walsh has told him he is unlikely to win the series - and is tipping one of his rivals for success instead. "He said to me, 'Do you think you'll win?' I said, 'I’ll give it a good try. "He replied 'No you won't, Louis Smith will win'." "I was like, 'Cheers, Louis', Nicky added. "But that's just him. He said to me afterwards, 'Listen, well done. The positive is you'll be able to dance when we do our reunion'."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.