Westlife’s Nicky Byrne joins 2fm weekdays

Westlife’s Nicky Bryne is joining RTÉ 2fm full time. The Nicky Byrne Show will air mid morning, weekdays from 11am, replacing Colm Hayes who is currently “on holidays”.

The singer previously filled in on the national station, hosting Celebrity Sunday in 2010 and covering for Ryan Tubridy on Tubridy in May of last year.

But when Dan Healy took over as Head of 2fm last year, he said Nicky wouldn’t be returning to the station: “Why would we bring in personalities, when we already have some of the biggest personalities in Irish broadcasting?”

He also said all presenters are safe, including Hector who left a few months later.

Nicky will be joined by another new voice to day time radio on 2fm which will be announced in the coming days. It’s not yet known where Colm Hayes is going but he tweeted yesterday saying he’d be back “pretty soon”.

This is the second announcement in the new 2fm shake up. Bernard O’Shea, Keith Walsh and Jennifer Maguire were revealed last week as the new 2fm breakfast presenters.

Commenting on his new role, Nicky Byrne said: “Dan Healy has amazing plans and vision for the station moving forward and it is very exciting for me to be part of those plans. There is a real belief from within about where the station can go – the thought of being on air Monday to Friday is daunting but very, very exciting. It is a massive opportunity for me, one in which I hope I can deliver on forming a successful relationship with the station for many years to come. Now it’s time to start planning, developing and presenting my new show and I really can’t wait to get chatting to our listeners nationwide daily.”

Head of 2fm, Dan Healy said: “I am thrilled that Nicky is joining the team. I started to talking to Nicky about 2fm as soon as I arrived. I believe that Nicky will appeal to young audiences through instant likeability and humour. Following our breakfast show announcement last week Nicky is the latest high profile bagging for 2fm….watch this space.”