5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
I Kissed A Boy's Irish star opens up on how the BBC show was the experience of a lifetime
Hugh Brien talks about growing up as a gay man in Ireland, his experience on the show... and his questionable hairstyle
Hugh Brien from Cork, who is currently appearing on reality TV show I Kissed A Boy
A young Irishman who's currently appearing on Dannii Minogue's gay dating show reveals his mum hit the roof when he got a septum piercing through his nose.
Cork man Hugh Brien (26) is starring on TV show I Kissed A Boy at the moment and also sports another distinctive look — a mullet.
Mullets are back in vogue among some men, having first become a trend in the '80s and '90s.
'I've had the mullet for a good few years, since pre Covid,' says Hugh.
'I have had short back and sides and no moustache, I was clean-shaven, but it's going to stay for the foreseeable future. The mullet is the one that stuck.
'I was at home, I actually cut it myself for the first two years and it looked awful. I've kept it going since. Mullet is part of my identity now.
TV show I Kissed A Boy
'I have three piercings, including a septum, the three you can see. I got the septum first which was a bit wild. My mum didn't talk to me for a few days after, but no others for now.'
Hugh hails from the southside of Cork and now lives in London, where he has become friends with another Irish lad who starred on I Kissed A Boy, Rory Jennings from Galway.
'It's nice because Rory moved to London recently and we live really close to each other. We bonded after the show; we would have had a great laugh on the show. But we're great friends now even though we didn't meet in the Maserati [Italian villa],' explains Hugh.
'It's just platonic with us. We have so much in common, being Irish, being in London and having gone through this experience
'When I moved to London I was kind of showing him the ropes around here.'
Host Dannii Minogue
Hugh delved into the Cork gay scene when he was younger, but all the gay bars there, including Chambers, have now sadly shut their doors for good.
'Chambers was my home away from home,' he confirms. 'I used to go there seven days a week. If I wasn't on a night out, I'd drive in on a Sunday just to see what queens were around — they were some of my closet friends.
'There's a lot of grassroots scene now, where a lot of people are taking it into their own hands rather than rely on a big corporation to run nights and create queer spaces. I did the same myself back in Cork and I do the same in London. I run club nights, creating a queer space
'Chambers was great. I really kind of found my confidence through queer nightlife and made a lot of friends and learned a lot about myself through that, so I can provide a space for other people to do that.'
Hugh now works in recruitment in London as his day job, as well a being a club promoter at night in the English capital.
'I had got everything out of Cork that I could have, so I wanted to move on,' he points out.
'Home will be always home — a quick Ryanair flight back and I'm home.
'I love London, it's kind of the perfect place for me right now. There's so much opportunity here, both in terms of work sense, social sense, meeting people from all walks of life.'
TV show I Kissed A Boy
Hugh was attracted to Jack S on the show.
'Jack is hilarious,' he raves. 'That was the first thing that stood out to me. He was bubbling with personality and he is very confident in himself; he knows who he is. He is up for a laugh and also quite flirtatious, so definitely a personality that drew me in.
'Especially being a new boy in there, somebody you can kind of bounce off.
'Jack S loves his jewellery and has a great sense of style, and clothing and hairstyle. He could be a model if he wanted.'
Hugh says he didn't really see anything in any of the other lads.
'I guess when I first went in, a lot of people were kind of good-looking in their own right. But, to be honest, throughout the show I didn't focus on anyone else, I wasn't really attracted to anyone else like that,' he reveals.
'I kind of just because friends with a lot of other people, it was mainly just Jack S that I focused on.'
Hugh Brien from Cork, who is currently appearing on reality TV show I Kissed A Boy
News in 90 Seconds - 15th June 2025
'I truly don't mind masculine or feminine, there's such a stigma around, especially [among] gay men, a section of our community, which can be very problematic.
'But honestly for me it's much more about the personality — we cry, we can laugh, we can challenge each other.
'There's a few more episodes to come, you have to stay tuned, a lot more to develop and come.'
Hugh says his longest relationship was for three years back in Cork, and he knew little about the show before taking part.
'I didn't actually know that much about the show when I was approached by one of the casting producers. But I did some research before and saw what the show was about, that it wasn't making up drama, it was just real queer people getting on and having relationships,' he explains.
'It was just amazing representations. It was something I could have definitely benefited with when I was young, and also I was single at the time, so I said 'why not?'.'
Two of his London flatmates flew over for an episode screening this weekend.
'It's such an amazing experience, that goes for the boys themselves, the crew, also the fact that we could explore queer relationships — no distractions — was great,' he beams.
'Overall it was amazing experience to be part of.
'Dannii was a huge part of our experience there and, getting to the last few episodes, she was around a lot. She knows everything about us and really does care. I couldn't think of anyone else to fit that kind of host role for the show.'
