Ryan’s heart sings
Eurovision hopeful f inds true love – but it’s not Katie
EUROVISION hopeful Ryan O’Shaughnessy melted the hardest of hearts – even Simon Cowell’s – when he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012 and wowed judges with a song about his crush.
However, speaking at the time, it was not clear if his romantic gesture would win Katie’s fair heart.
Appearing on ITV’s Daybreak, the former Fair City star said: ‘She told me she was flattered and really happy for me. We’re going to stay friends and see what happens.’
Now, six years on, it seems that his love for his high-school crush Katie Keegan went unrequited.
However, Ryan has finally found love and is dating fellow singer Ailbhe Casey, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
He is still singing and is in Lisbon this weekend, where he attempts to revive Ireland’s fading Eurovision glory. Ryan will perform the song Together, which he co-wrote specifically for the Eurovision.
He had help from The Nucleus, a new Irish songwriting team and hub, founded by Hamlet Sweeney.
And while he didn’t say if this song was about a special somebody, it seems that Ryan is smitten with his girlfriend Ailbhe. His Instagram page is littered with happy snaps of the pair.
In January, he wrote under a pic of the pair together: ‘Only on the road a little over a week now and I’m already feeling the distance from this one. In many cases, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder but they never talk about the initial feeling of loss involved in the process. Only 8 weeks to go #mylove #mysidekick #mybestfriend #missingalimb.’
And this time, his devotion is not unrequited as Ailbhe seems equally taken with Ryan and has been posting pictures to her own page.
She has also commented that she misses her boyfriend when he is away touring.
It is not clear if she will travel to Lisbon to support him as he takes to the stage in the hope of qualifying for the Eurovision final for the first time in years.
And it would appear that it’s happily ever after all around.
Katie Lucia Keegan, who was briefly thrust into the spotlight by virtue of Ryan’s romantic lyrics, is also happily settled.
Having qualified from law at Dublin City University, she became a first-time mother last year to daughter Rosie.
While Ryan may finally be lucky in love, sadly his Eurovision chances don’t look as promising.
He will take to the stage in Tuesday night’s semi-finals, where 43 countries will compete for one of 26 places in the finals.
The bookies have Ireland at 150/1 to win the whole thing, which doesn’t inspire the most confidence. The odds for Ireland to qualify from semi-final one are 4/1, with only Iceland less fancied to progress to the final.
‘She was flattered and happy for me’