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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
Entertainment
Sandra Mallon

Love Island: Jack Keating reveals he was second choice for hit show after sister Missy

Jack Keating has revealed that he was second choice for Love Island, after his younger sister Missy turned it down.

He left the show on Friday after failing to find a romantic connection with any of the girls in Casa Amor. But Jack, who is the son of Boyzone singer Ronan Keating and model Yvonne Connolly, has now revealed that it was 21-year-old Missy who Love Island bosses originally wanted to go on the hit series.

He told us: “That is kind of how it came about to be fair. For the last two years they asked Missy. They scouted Missy to do the show and she’s been kind of like, ‘nah, it’s not really for me’.

Read more: Jack Keating names Love Island girl he was getting close to that we didn't see

"Then me and Missy I think had a couple of drinks and she was like ‘Jack, why don’t you apply for it so I thought why not?’ It was never something I thought about doing before and I just thought why not.

"I thought if I didn’t do it, I could look back in 10 or 20 years as something I would’ve regretted so I thought why not, let’s go for that.” Jack also told 98FM’s Big Breakfast with Rebecca and Brendan how he kept the news of his appearance on the show under wraps for the first month.

He said: “I actually didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t tell my mum or my dad or anyone in my family. I didn’t tell anyone until pretty much when I got to go so I kept it as quiet as possible.”

The 23-year-old opened up about his nerves on the first night, admitting he “went mute” when he first entered Casa Amor and had to spend a half hour trying to compose himself.

He added: “Usually you go in there in the morning but this year we went in at night. “When I first walked in, I thought ‘Oh my days’ I was just lost for words. I literally went mute for the first 30 minutes and tried to compose myself.

“But as the days went on I relaxed more and got into it. It was such a great time. It was unbelievable.” Meanwhile, Jack has admitted he tried his luck with fellow Island reject Jazmine Nicol after fans spotted “chemistry” between the two on Sunday’s spin-off show Aftersun.

He laughed: “If I can get a second date, we’ll see but who knows.”

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