Tommy Tiernan and Hector O hEochagain join cast of Celebrity Gogglebox Ireland

By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Derry Girls star Tommy Tiernan, TV presenter Hector O hEochagain and radio broadcaster Laurita Blewitt are among the household names who will star in a one-off Celebrity Gogglebox Ireland special.

The Irish trio, who star together on their award-winning podcast Tommy, Hector & Laurita, will form a household on the special episode on September 20th, marking 25 years of Virgin Media TV.

On Thursday it was also announced that former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona and Irish comedian and writer Alison Spittle would join the sofa and react to the best of television together.

Spittle, who admitted her TV guilty pleasure is Celebrity Big Brother, in which Katona once starred, said: “I love Gogglebox, I’ve always wondered what it was like to watch telly on telly like a TV turducken.

“Delighted to show Kerry the glamorous delights of Moate and the surrounding environs of Westmeath, failing that we’ll just watch TV.”

She also said she’d love to see a reboot of RTE Two’s reality show The Fame Game, in which contestants compete for a chance to meet their celebrity idol.

“I remember watching some fella shivering in a Galway car park to meet Pierce Brosnan and I think the world is ready to see someone shiver in a car park to meet Jamie Dornan,” she said.

Katona said: “My favourite thing in the whole world is watching television. I think watching people’s reactions to certain things on TV is hilarious, which is I why love Gogglebox.”

More celebrities from “various strands of Irish life” will be announced in the coming week.

Celebrity Gogglebox Ireland will air on September 20th at 9pm on Virgin Media One and Virgin Media Player.