Donal Skehan Explained

Donal Skehan
Birth Date:1986 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Howth, Dublin, Ireland
Years Active:2006–present
Children:2
Module:
Embed:yes
Genre:Pop
Years Active:2006–2010
Instrument:Vocals
Label:MIG Live
Associated Acts:Streetwize, Industry

Donal Skehan (born 3 June 1986) is an Irish television personality, presenter (specialising in food programmes highlighting the use of toast), food writer, cook, photographer and former singer. He is known for his television appearances, cookbooks and YouTube channel.

Skehan was also a member of the boy band Streetwize. As vocalist with Industry he had two No. 1 singles with them on the Irish Singles Chart in 2009.

Early life

His parents, Dermot and Liz,[1] are in the food industry; running their own food distribution company.[2] Having grown up in Howth, Skehan attended Sutton Park School and went on to study media at Dublin Business School.[3]

Television and cooking career

Television personality

Skehan worked as an announcer on the Irish entertainment specialty channel Bubble Hits, broadcasting music and entertainment news and celebrity gossip segments.

Food author and presenter

An avid food enthusiast, Skehan started a blog in 2007 called Good Mood Food that evolved into a cookbook.After many appearances on television, and giving of live demonstrations at social events and shows, he was featured in his own weekly food programme, Kitchen Hero, on RTÉ One that was launched on 16 May 2011. In 2011, he published a cookbook based on the television series, Home Kitchen Hero – Bringing Cooking Back Home.[4] A second series and a Christmas special were aired in 2012. UKTV network Good Food began airing the show in April 2012. The show is now in its sixth year of production.

Skehan became a co-presenter and judge on Junior MasterChef on the BBC in 2012, appearing alongside John Torode.[5] In 2013, after appearing on Jamie Oliver's YouTube channel, Foodtube, Skehan launched his own dedicated YouTube channel which has since grown to over 1M subscribers.[6]

Skehan presented a new series for Food Network UK, Follow Donal, which saw him explore Vietnam in a four-part series and then went on to visit ten European cities[7] in the second installment of the series which aired in the autumn of 2015.[8] Skehan is also appearing in the Swedish food programme Mitt kök on TV4 where he speaks Swedish.[9] Skehan is currently one of a number of rotating guest presenters for Saturday Kitchen on BBC One and has hosted six editions of the show to date.[10] In 2021, his book Everyday Cook won Cookbook of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.[11]

Music career

2006: Streetwize

Skehan was interested very early in music. In 2006, he became part of the global/international boy band project Streetwize (alongside Irish Lee Mulhern (later known as Lee Matthews), English Lee Hutton and Swedish Jonathan Fagerlund). The original members made a tour in Ireland, UK, Sweden, and appeared on the US television station CN8,[12] a cable television station where they performed "Room in Your Heart" in a morning show hosted by Greg Coy.[13] Skehan and Jonathan Fagerlund were disenchanted with the progress of the band and left early to be replaced by Venezuelan Antonio Jones and American Kyle Carpenter. Streetwize eventually folded without any hits.

2008: Irish Eurosong preliminaries for Eurovision Song Contest

See main article: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. On 23 February 2008, Skehan took part in Eurosong 2008 in a bid to represent Ireland in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Double Cross My Heart".[14] It was a pop song composed by Joel Humlen, Oscar Gorres and Charlie Mason, and performed by Skehan with two male and two female back-up dancers, as well as a male back-up singer.[15] [16] Skehan was one of the Final 6, alongside Dustin the Turkey, Maja, Leona Daly, Liam Geddes and Marc Roberts; with Dustin the Turkey winning with the song "Irelande Douze Pointe".

2009–2010: Industry

See main article: Industry (Irish band). In 2009, Skehan joined the Irish band Industry alongside the English Lee Hutton (his former bandmate in Streetwize) and Irish girl members Michele McGrath and Morgan Deane. Industry had success in the Irish charts including two chart-topping singles "My Baby's Waiting" in June 2009 and "Burn" in August of the same year on the Irish Singles Chart. In 2009, they were also a supporting act for The Pussycat Dolls at Fitzgerald Stadium. Later Industry single releases like "In Your Arms", "My Mistake", "Drown in the Music" and "Kill the DJ" did not chart. The band broke up in 2010.

Personal life

In June 2015, Skehan married Sofie Larsson in Dublin City Hall followed by a reception in Lisnavagh House in County Carlow and had their honeymoon in Ravello on Italy's Amalfi Coast.[17] From 2016 to 2020, Skehan and his wife had a stint in Los Angeles[18] before moving back to Dublin, where they officially bought a house in 2023.[19]

In June 2017, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child.[20] In December 2017, their son was born in Los Angeles.[21] [22] In June 2019, the couple announced they are expecting a second child.[23] On 28 November 2019 their second son was born.[24] Their sons have since been raised and educated in Dublin.[19]

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2010–2013Kitchen HeroPresenter 42 episodes
2012–2014Junior MasterChefJudge
2013Grandma's BoyPresenter13 episodes
2014–2015Mitt kökPresenter
2014Donal's Irish FeastPresenter8 episodes
2015–2016Follow Donal...Presenter19 episodes
2015Cook, Eat, Burn!Presenter7 episodes
2016Saturday KitchenGuest presenter12 episodes
Food Network Star KidsJudge6 episodes
Food Network StarGuest judgeSeason 12, Episode 9: "Food Holiday Fray"
2017Cutthroat KitchenGuest judgeSeason 15, Episode 4: "Do You Really Wonton Hurt Me?"
2018Donals Asian Baking AdventurePresenter10 episodes
The Best Thing I Ever AteGuest presenterSeason 8, Episode 8: "Throwback"
Season 8, Episode 14: "Serious Spice"
Guest presenterSeason 4, Episode 1: "Brunch Beauties"
Season 4, Episode 3: "Game Night"
Season 4, Episode 4: "Wicked Good"
2021BaketopiaJudge

Web

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013–2015Jamie Oliver's FoodTubePresenter20 episodes
2014Donal's Simple SuppersPresenter15 episodes
2016–2018Ro's LifeGuest host"Cheesecake Challenge"
"Trying the Doggie Doo Game"
"We try the Crazy Toaster Game"
2017–2019Nerdy NummiesGuest host"Fantastic Beasts Queenie's Apple Strudel"
"Baby Shark Cakes!"
2017–20195 Ingredient...Presenter29 episodes
2018Donal Eats LAPresenter5 episodes
Donal's Thailand AdventurePresenter3 episodes
2019Weeknight PastaPresenter4 episodes
Click PlatePresenter1 episode
Sweet ToothPresenter4 episodes

Discography

Singles

Solo
As part of Industry

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Donal Skehan: Cooking all over the world . Digby . Marie Claire . 11 March 2006 . . Irish Times Trust . 14 September 2019.
  2. Web site: TV chef Donal Skehan's recipe for love . . . 28 October 2013 . 3 October 2016 . Smith, Andrea.
  3. News: First Encounters . The Irish Times . Irish Times Trust . 28 January 2012 . 3 October 2016 . O'Rourke, Frances.
  4. Book: Skehan. Donal. Kitchen Hero: Bringing Cooking Back Home. 2011. Collins. 978-0007383023. 9 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150710065747/http://www.donalskehan.com/2010/12/kitchen-hero/. 10 July 2015.
  5. Web site: Irish TV Chef Donal Skehan Set To Cause a Stir On 'Junior MasterChef UK' . Cummins . Steve . 5 October 2012 . . 14 September 2019.
  6. Web site: Donal Skehan . YouTube . 6 February 2022.
  7. Web site: 'Follow Donal to Europe' and eat as Europeans do . Dickie . George . 18 May 2016 . onTVToday . 14 September 2019.
  8. Web site: Donal's flavour of Vietnam . . 19 April 2015 . Irish Independent . Independent News & Media . 14 September 2019.
  9. News: Donal Skehan – irländsk kock i Mitt kök. 13 November 2015. Expressen. Bonnier Group. Swedish. Donal Skehan - Irish chef in My Kitchen.
  10. Web site: Saturday Kitchen fans smack down Donal Skehan for pronouncing Alexandra Burke's name wrong . Waring . Olivia . 11 June 2016 . . . 14 September 2019.
  11. Web site: 2021-11-29. The best of the best! Irish Book Awards 2021 winners revealed. 2021-12-01. IrishCentral.com. en.
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkUAiFnaz3s CN8 performance and interview with Streetwize band members including Donal Skehan
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkUAiFnaz3s Performance of Streetwize including Donal Skehan on CN8
  14. Web site: Ireland: Donal Skehan speaks to esctoday.com . Viniker . Barry . 19 February 2008 . ESCToday . 25 September 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080221190022/http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/10566 . 21 February 2008 .
  15. Eurosong 2008 (23 February 2008). Radio Telefís Éireann. Retrieved on 27 September 2008.
  16. http://www.allkindsofeverything.ie/Eurosong08a.htm Irish Eurovision site interview with Donal Skehan
  17. News: Hello sunshine!' Donal Skehan shares snap from lavish honeymoon with wife Sofie . evoke.ie . Hutch . Eleanore . 2 July 2015 . 3 July 2015 . 4 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150704060738/http://www.evoke.ie/showbiz/donal-skehan-honeymoon-pics-italy-sofie-larsson/ . dead .
  18. News: Brady. Sasha. Donal Skehan bids emotional farewell to 'little Howth home' as he prepares for new life in LA. 30 July 2016. Independent.ie. 15 February 2016.
  19. Web site: Donal Skehan's Dublin family home reveal one year on: 'Finally feeling properly settled'. Rollercoaster. Claire Ruby. Young. 1 July 2024. 26 August 2024.
  20. Web site: Life is about to change FOREVER!. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/DtNlzsKMzsM . 2021-12-15 . live. Skehan. Donal. 12 June 2017. YouTube. 14 June 2017.
  21. Web site: Donal Skehan and wife Sofie welcome first child . . 2 December 2017 . . Irish Times Trust . 14 September 2019.
  22. Web site: Donal Skehan reveals name of newborn son . . 6 December 2017 . Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Government of Ireland . 14 September 2019.
  23. Web site: Great news! Donal Skehan and his wife, Sofie, were expecting their second child . O'Keefe . Rebecca . 12 June 2019 . . 14 September 2019.
  24. Donal Skehan . donalskehan . B5feFV5n3Z7 . 30 November 2019 . Welcome to the world little guy! What a whirlwind the last 36 hours have been- @SofieSkehan and baby boy doing great, give or take a little lost sleep! He’s a bouncing little bruiser weighing at 9lbs and looks just like his big brother- Arrived late on Thursday night after a walk and a steak dinner! Thank you to all the brilliant nurses and our doctor who dropped their Thanksgiving plans to bring this little dude into our lives! All exhausted here but grateful to be back home safe and sound with our new little addition. D xx . Huntington Hospital . 6 February 2022.
  25. Book: Skehan. Donal. Good Mood Food: Simple Healthy Homecooking. 2010. Mercier Press. Cork. 978-1856356299. 9 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150710063800/http://www.donalskehan.com/2010/12/good-mood-food/. 10 July 2015.
  26. Book: Skehan. Donal. Kitchen Hero: Great Food for Less. 2012. Collins. 978-0007415502. 9 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150710064523/http://www.donalskehan.com/2012/04/kitchen-hero-great-food-for-less/. 10 July 2015.
  27. Book: Skehan. Donal. Home Cooked. 2013. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 978-0007518289. 9 July 2015. 10 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150710054125/http://www.donalskehan.com/2013/06/kitchen-hero-homecooked/. dead.
  28. Web site: Feast: A Dinner Journal. Donal Skehan. 9 January 2016. 26 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160126084453/http://www.donalskehan.com/books/feast-a-dinner-journal/. dead.
  29. Web site: Easy Recipes for Summer Cooking . . September 2019 . . 14 September 2019.
  30. Book: FitzGibbon. Theodora. The Pleasures of the Table: Rediscovering Theodora FitzGibbon. 2014. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. 978-0717159673. 9 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150710065655/http://www.donalskehan.com/2014/04/the-pleasures-of-the-table-rediscovering-theodora-fitzgibbon-2/. 10 July 2015.
  31. Web site: Fresh. Donal Skehan. 9 January 2016.
  32. Web site: Eat.Live.Go.. Donal Skehan. en-US. 2017-02-08.
  33. Web site: Fall 2019 Announcements: Cooking & Food . Rotella . Mark . 21 June 2019 . . 14 September 2019.
  34. Web site: Hodder lands Skehan's super food book ahead of TV series . Chandler . Mark . 20 June 2019 . . 14 September 2019.
  35. Web site: Everyday Cook. waterstones.com. 6 November 2021.
  36. Web site: Homey Cook. waterstones.com. 19 August 2023.

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