Meet Megan McKenna - the reality star taking part in The X Factor: Celebrity
The former TOWIE star will be turning country singer for Simon Cowell
Megan McKenna is famous for her on-screen meltdowns during her TOWIE tenure – her screaming matches are the stuff of reality TV legend.
But now, Megan is hoping to make a name for herself outside of the realm of scripted reality, and launch herself as a bona fide singing star on The X Factor: Celebrity.
Meet Megan McKenna…
Age: 27
Job: Reality TV star
Twitter: @Megan_Mckenna_
Instagram: megan_mckenna_
X Factor category: Unders
Where have I seen Megan McKenna before?
Where haven’t we seen her? Megan has been on our screens for the best part of a decade.
Having previously studied musical theatre, a teenage Megan was joined by schoolfriend Demi Bennetts to form Harmony, a shrill girl band who got to the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Piers Morgan called them “a lot of fun”, Amanda Holden said she “genuinely enjoyed their brilliant performance” – but Simon Cowell said their singing was “atrocious”.
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Harmony didn’t last much longer after that, or so it would seem, with Megan next appearing in TOWIE in 2010 as part of girl band LOLA – the group even performed at the T4 Stars of 2010 concert.
LOLA didn’t last long either, with Megan also auditioning for the X Factor in 2014 and 2015 – claiming to have even got through to the six-chair challenge – although Cowell didn’t think she’d be much cop singing country music as an Essex girl.
“I was a bit fuming, actually,” she told 4Music.
It wasn’t until her explosive appearance on the third series of Ex on the Beach that Megan’s reality TV career really took off; known for her fiery attitude, her memorable appearance saw her land a place on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016. In March the same year, she was made a full-time cast member on The Only Way is Essex – leaving the programme in 2017.
Can Megan McKenna sing?
She may not have impressed on The X Factor as a civilian, but Megan has since gone on to have a hugely successful country music career in the past year.
Her very own TV show, There’s Something About Megan, saw the star head to Nashville to try and make a name for himself as the next big country music sensation.
After the three-parter was broadcast, Megan released her first EP, featuring High Heeled Shoes and Far Cry from Love – both of which topped the iTunes chart in less than 24 hours after their release.
Megan even revealed that The X Factor: Celebrity judge Louis Walsh was mentoring her as her career started to blossom.
“Louis Walsh and I talk a lot about my music, and he's really happy with how it's going,” she told The Sun in 2017. “Basically he actually was one of the people who said to me ages ago that I should go to Nashville and do a show.”
Rather tellingly, she added: “I'd love to get involved in X Factor, maybe - never say never. You never know what's coming round the corner."
Having performed across the country, even supporting Michael Buble at his British Summer Time show at Hyde Park, Megan released her first album, Story of Me, in 2018 – which placed at number 10 in the UK iTunes chart.
So expect big things from Megan on The X Factor: Celebrity…
The X Factor: Celebrity launches on Saturday 12th October
