Dean McCullough has been backed to win I’m A Celebrity by a fellow Northern Irish Radio 1 star.
Now on BBC Radio Ulster, Phil Taggart was a Radio 1 regular from 2013 until leaving in 2021, the same year 32-year-old Dean’s career took off at the station.
And he reckons his Newtownabbey-born friend will be a success in the jungle – and he will be one of his biggest fans.
Phil (38) said: “I think Dean may well have this in the bag. He’s got a lot of charm that the public will love and he’s definitely not scared to speak his mind.
“I wonder will him and Barry McGuigan make a Northern Irish pact and stick together?
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was looking forward to seeing how he does with one of those heinous bush tucker trials.”
In the meantime, Phil will be taking to the stage on Friday night at the Limelight with the debut of his new live dance night Evolution of Disco.
He said: “The whole idea behind it is to create a show that shows the impact that disco music has had throughout the ages. This night charts where it came from in the Seventies into the Eighties and through to the Nineties and Noughties.
“Disco has always existed in different ways, but it mutates every single decade so it’s kind of like a history lesson set up as a party. It’s two and a half hours of the biggest hits mixed together so any dance fans will love it.
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“Nostalgia is the big attraction, 100% – I want people who were out dancing in the Seventies and lived through it the first time. The idea in my head is that you have two or three generations of disco lovers there and they are just there for the music and a good time. Things like the 30+ Club are also an inspiration, people of all ages getting out and enjoying themselves.”
And revellers who go to experience the event will be the first to see it before Phil plans to take it around the UK and Ireland next year.
He continued: “It’s going to be touring next year and it’s going to go to the festivals as well so this is breaking the champagne off the bow, this is the launch.
“I have been working on the visuals and the idea of it for months and months, watching every single documentary and listening to every single disco song I possibly can, so this will be the start of it and hopefully in 2025 it will be gathering pace and getting bigger.
“There’s going to be a full audio visual show but it’s one of those things where I want to grow as it grows, the more money we can get the more production we can get – and the more disco balls we can get into the venue.”
Meanwhile, the busy Omagh man has more ambitious plans for the new year as well as continuing the success of his local radio show.
He added: “I want to continue the growth of the show I’m doing on Radio Ulster and Foyle at the minute, the House Party, it’s growing bigger and bigger. I want to make that a Saturday night dance institution for Northern Ireland.
“And I’m also working on podcasts, the radio show and now this disco night as well, so it’s keep me busy anyway – it’s keeping me between the ditches.”