James Kavanagh
Once Ireland’s Got Talent wraps, James Kavanagh brings his own brand of fun to Ireland’s Got Mór Talent, alongside co-presenter Glenda Gilson. He spills the beans to Jess O Sullivan on everything from his favourite judge to teaching Lucy Kennedy to cook
Behind the scenes gossip from Ireland’s Got Mór Talent!
Has working on series two of Ireland’s Got Mór Talent been different?
I feel so much more relaxed. Last year it was my first TV gig, so Glenda was my TV godmother, guiding me through, but this year we are way more comfortable. In the first series, she would give me an elbow in my ribs when it was my turn to ask a question, so it was really great to have someone with so much experience by my side. In general, though, the talent levels have gone way up. I think people saw it last year and thought, ‘Hey, I think I could do that!’
Is it true that you are actually Glenda’s baby, Bobby’s, real father?
I am Bobby’s real father! No, she actually was pregnant towards the end of the last series and didn’t realise that she was so we have this little joke now that I’m actually the real dad.
Who would win in a lip-sync battle between you and Glenda?
I would like to say me but I think Glenda would win because I wouldn’t be able to remember the lyrics. Last year we had to do a line dancing audition and she was way better at it than me. I’m really bad at remembering steps, rehearsing and repeating what we’ve just learned. But then I’m really good at freestyle and Glenda isn’t, so we both have our skills.
is season you’ve been teaching host Lucy Kennedy some of your skills, including twerking, but what else are you going to teach her?
I will be teaching her how to make the perfect omelette. I do the Julia Childs method: put the eggs in a really hot pan and vigorously shake the pan towards you. You get the most stunning omelette, very moist. My toppings of choice are spring onion, cheese and bacon lardons.
Do you feed the crew lots of delicious food from your Currabinny Cookbook?
Yes, there were a few requests for our banana loaf and also cookies. I didn’t do it every day now but I did bring in a few treats.
Were you surprised to win Cookbook of the Year alongside your boyfriend William at the recent An Post Irish Book Awards?
Yes, it was up against unbelievable competition like Neven Maguire, Donal Skehan, e Happy Pear, who have all been in the game a long time. It was our rst cookbook so we were genuinely shocked. You could tell by the state of our speech as well. e only thing I could think of to say was: ‘Oh my God Graham Norton is looking at me!’
How do you stay so skinny when you make all that delicious food?
It pains people to hear but it’s genuinely metabolism and genes. I eat so much food – truck loads – and I don’t exercise at all. William has to watch himself but he runs and exercises a lot. I’m an absolute sloth, in bed constantly eating while he’s out running. It possibly will catch up with me. This weekend I was just talking about health and fitness, and I might start hitting the gym now a bit more, even just for more core strength.
There were no animals in the show this season, so would you ever think of training your own cat, Diana, to perform?
100 per cent yes. I recently learned that you can teach cats how to play fetch. She’s obsessed with lids. If I throw a lid she has started slowly to flip it back to me so she is starting to catch on. She might be on IGT season 3. If she feels like it of course. Cats are very much, ‘I’ll do it in my time.’
If you were to go on with Diana, which judge would give you a pity Golden Buzzer?
Michelle Visage. We have a little friendship and I’m also obsessed with her. She’s my favourite one for sure. Whenever we’re in between takes, she tells me mad stories about the ’80s in New York and about working on RuPaul’s Drag Race, because I’m a fan of the show. She’s full of stories but she’s actually hilarious as well, so you can have so much craic with her.
She takes your Irish class on the show very seriously.
She is a proper A student when it comes to Irish class. She shouts: “Is it time for Irish class yet?” more so than Denise. She also has remembered all of the Irish words that I taught her last year. She loves saying focal because it sounds like something else, she knows she’s a cailin, and she was representing Mayo last year when we did our GAA competition, so she screams ‘Hon Mayo!’ when she’s going up and down the corridors. She really loves it.
Do you ever get really emotional watching performances from the side of the stage?
Glenda was bawling through all of the emotional acts, and I was there to wipe her tears away. But we’re lmed side of stage for every single act so the reactions you see are real. My favourite audition was the couple who sang Video Killed the Radio Star and made their own DIY radio. I love the slightly weirder acts, they’re way more interesting.
Do you ever get giddy with Glenda?
Yes, last season we had this secret word, crestfallen, it was in one of our scripts for the sketches that we did. ‘Glenda looks crestfallen’ and we were like ‘What is this word?’ We just became obsessed with it. So we dared each other to use it in every interview for the day. Our producer was like; ‘Yeah, guys it was funny ve hours ago, now get it together.’
But you have a serious side, and have used your voice to highlight some very worthy campaigns such as autism awareness and bullying…
Yes that is so important to me. Some people say you can alienate some audiences or lose some brand deals if you’re too much this way or the other way, but I’d rather have a voice than be censored. at’s why I like having my own platform to lend my voice to people who need it.
Is it hard to go from creating your own content for your Instagram account to working on TV?
Usually it’s me in my bedroom with my phone but then you have a lot more people to not let down. You have to hit your mark, or remember your line, so you have a lot of pressure on you. I have a lot of respect now for TV presenters.
You are from Dublin and your boyfriend William is from Cork, so have you been made an honourary citizen of the People’s Republic yet?
At the start, no. I’d be down in Currabinny in my big coats and screaming on Instagram and some of William’s neighbours were a bit tight-lipped about me. But they are so accepting now. When we brought out the cookbook they loved seeing all the pictures of Currabinny in it. I love Cork and we want to live in Currabinny when we’re older. I am craving a place in the middle of nowhere, right by the water, a few chickens. It’s hard to imagine but it’s true!