First RTE DWTS big name confirmed as singer, 59, ‘making up for lost time’ after cancer & quadruple heart bypass hell

Insiders reveal how Brian, who’s set to release his 19th album next year, could even end up singing as well as dancing on the show as the Irish Sun reveals the first celeb signed up
SINGER Brian Kennedy is to take to the dancefloor on Dancing With The Stars, the Irish Sun can reveal.

The 59-year-old looks set to light up TV screens early next year on RTE’s glitziest dance show having survived cancer, chemotherapy, a quadruple heart bypass and a dose of Covid.

A source close to Brian told The Irish Sun: “Since Brian got the all clear, he has been back out gigging every weekend.

“There were a couple of years where Brian wasn’t well enough to do anything but he feels great now and wants to make up for lost time.

“He made his acting debut this year, playing Oscar Wilde in Phil Lynott musical Moonlight and wants to do even more next year, that’s why he decided to sign up for Dancing With The Stars.”

2026 also sees the 30th anniversary of Brian’s 1996 landmark album A Better Man, which achieved quadruple platinum status in Ireland and which the Belfast man will be promoting with a series of concerts around Ireland.

However the prolific songwriter is also releasing his 19th album next March, just as the winner gets the glitterball trophy on Dancing With The Stars.

An insider said: “Brian Kennedy has gone through so much in the last few years but come out the other side.

“Part of the reason he wants to go on Dancing With The Stars is to show others you can make a full recovery from cancer or heart problems, and take back your life again.

“I’d be surprised if Brian doesn’t end up singing as well as dancing on Dancing With The Stars.”

Brian is no stranger to reality shows, acting as a judge on the first season of RTE’s The Voice of Ireland, which is made by Screentime ShinAwil – the same company which makes Dancing With The Stars for RTE.

His best pal and former housemate comedian Katherine Lynch competed in Dancing With The Stars in 2017.

HEALTH BATTLE

Katherine once said: “I swear, if there is a heaven, it’s Dancing With The Stars” after she made it to week nine of the dance show.

From the Falls Road in Belfast, Brian’s career kicked off singing backing vocals to Van Morrison before signing his own record deal and enjoying hits including Put The Message In A Box and touring with Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, as well as penning books.

However the last decade has seen the singer battle health problems including rectal cancer in 2016, followed by a heart attack in 2021 which saw him admitted to St James’s Hospital in Dublin after suffering chest pains.

Brian recalled being in such severe pain he turned to a surgeon and asked: “Am I going to die tonight?”

‘AT LEAST I’M STILL ALIVE’

Doctors saved his life with a quadruple bypass, but he later caught Covid.

While he fought cancer, Brian also endured his brother, Bap Kennedy – also a singer – die from pancreatic and bowel cancer aged just 54, in 2016.

Brian said: “On the one hand, I feel I’ve been dealt a bad hand in life and it’s easy to think ‘poor me’. But on the other hand I think, ‘well at least I’m still alive’.

“There’s always a part of me that, no matter what, believes it could be worse and is an optimist at heart.

‘IT MAKES YOU STRONGER’

“When these things were happening to me, one of my closest friends said, ‘How on Earth are you coping so well?’ I said it must be [my upbringing] on the Falls Road. I’ve seen people shot in front of me, and all kinds of other stuff. If you survive that, it makes you stronger.”

Brian has also hired veteran Irish record boss Freddie Middleton to mastermind his record releases next year.

The first dance rehearsals for the ninth season of Dancing With The Stars will commence in the coming days, with RTE then announcing the 12 celeb dancers taking part.

DWTS boss Larry Bass has ordered a revamp of the show, with two-time Strictly champion Oti Mabuse coming in to replace lead judge Loraine Barry.

The dance show has often faced criticism in recent years about the profile of the ‘stars’ they are booking.

Larry previously told The Irish Sun: “Every year we have a mixture of household names and other dancers which set people off saying ‘who is that?’ But by the end of the series, those people will have become household names in Ireland. That’s the beauty of Dancing With The Stars. We only need to find 12 people.”

Along with new chief judge Oti joining the existing panel of Brian Redmond, Arthur Gourounlian and Karen Byrne, Jennifer Zamparelli will be joined as co-host by 2fm’s Laura Fox, standing in for Doireann Garrihy, who welcomed her first child with husband Mark Mehigan last October.