Michael Louis Vincent Walsh was born on 5 August 1952 and is an Irish music manager and television personality.
49 Facts About Louis Walsh
2.
Louis Walsh has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s.
3.
Louis Walsh later became a talent judge on television shows such as Popstars, You're a Star, The X Factor, and Ireland's Got Talent.
4.
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh was born in Kiltimagh on 5 August 1952, the son of Maureen and Frank Walsh.
5.
Louis Walsh has one older sibling and six younger siblings.
6.
When Ronan Keating announced he wanted to take a break from Boyzone, Louis Walsh continued to manage his career.
7.
Louis Walsh then went back to the boy band formula to create Westlife, which Keating co-managed with Louis Walsh for the first couple of Westlife's number one singles and albums.
8.
Louis Walsh went head-to-head with Waterman on the show with his girlband Girls Aloud battling it out with Waterman's boy band One True Voice.
9.
Louis Walsh managed the band to achieve a million singles sales while their debut album went platinum.
10.
Louis Walsh frequently appears on various talent shows on Raidio Teilifis Eireann, the most recent being You're a Star.
11.
Louis Walsh covered for Simon Cowell as a judge on Britain's Got Talent during series four's Birmingham auditions in February 2010, due to Cowell being ill.
12.
Louis Walsh again filled in for David Hasselhoff at the London auditions in the following series when Hasselhoff was unavailable due to appearing in pantomime.
13.
In January 2012, Louis Walsh appeared on the ITV documentary series The Talent Show Story where he was interviewed about being a judge on The X Factor and Popstars The Rivals.
14.
Louis Walsh appeared from 2004 as a judge, along with Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne, on ITV talent show The X Factor.
15.
In 2004, Louis Walsh found chart success with G4, who went on to have a chart topping album and completed two tours of the UK.
16.
In 2005, Louis Walsh managed the winner Shayne Ward, whose debut single "That's My Goal" spent four weeks at UK number one.
17.
In November 2005, Louis Walsh quit the show mid-series out of protest regarding his treatment on the show; the most explicit example being Osbourne's drenching him with water during a live recording.
18.
Louis Walsh returned on the Saturday evening's live show, stating that he could not abandon his remaining competitor and eventual winner, Shayne Ward.
19.
Louis Walsh then went on to win The X Factor: Battle of the Stars with actress Lucy Benjamin.
20.
Louis Walsh was replaced on the panel by American choreographer Brian Friedman.
21.
On 22 June 2007, Louis Walsh confirmed he would be returning as a judge for the fourth series of The X Factor.
22.
Louis Walsh had said that the girl group were "past their sell-by date" and lacking in talent, but Cowell already had plans to book the girls on the show.
23.
In 2008, Louis Walsh returned for the fifth series along with Cowell, Minogue and Cheryl Cole, who was hired after Osbourne quit the previous June.
24.
Louis Walsh took his acts to Castle Leslie in Ireland during the judges houses stage where he was aided by Westlife star Shane Filan.
25.
Louis Walsh returned to the sixth series show in 2009, again mentoring the groups for the fourth time in six years.
26.
Kandy Rain were eliminated in the first live results show, from which Louis Walsh was absent due to the sudden death of Boyzone member Stephen Gately.
27.
In 2010, Louis Walsh mentored the Over 28s category on the seventh series of The X Factor.
28.
Louis Walsh's last surviving act, Mary Byrne, was a semi-finalist who finished fifth overall.
29.
Louis Walsh returned to the show in 2011 for series eight.
30.
Louis Walsh joined new panellists Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa, who replaced former judges Cowell, Minogue and Cole, all of whom left the show after series seven.
31.
Louis Walsh chose Kitty Brucknell, Sami Brookes, Johnny Robinson and Jonjo Kerr to go through to the live shows.
32.
However, on 3 May 2012, Louis Walsh confirmed he would return for his ninth series alongside Tulisa and Barlow.
33.
Louis Walsh filled for Cowell at the Kansas City auditions for season two of the American version while Cowell was recovering from bronchitis.
34.
Louis Walsh returned for the tenth series and was joined by Barlow, Scherzinger and fellow original judge Osbourne, who replaced Tulisa.
35.
Louis Walsh's category consisted of Nicholas McDonald, Luke Friend, and Sam Callahan.
36.
In 2014, Walsh returned for the eleventh series, while Barlow, Osbourne and Scherzinger were replaced by former judges Cowell and Cole, and new judge Mel B In 2015, Walsh stated that he was considering not returning to the twelfth series of The X Factor, citing his desire to return to full-time music management.
37.
In 2016, Louis Walsh returned as a judge to replace Nick Grimshaw for the thirteenth series, alongside Cowell, Osbourne and Scherzinger.
38.
On 7 June 2018, Louis Walsh announced he had decided not to return for the fifteenth series, in order to focus on music management and other commitments.
39.
Louis Walsh was mentor of the winner Megan McKenna, marking Walsh's third overall victory on the show.
40.
In May 2015, it was announced that Louis Walsh, would be launching a new Irish talent show, produced by Cowell, as a judge, set to premiere in 2017 or 2018.
41.
Louis Walsh stated that he would like to broadcast an Irish edition of Got Talent, though he stated that the untitled talent show was only in early development.
42.
Louis Walsh later confirmed himself on ITV's This Morning as head judge on the show, Ireland's Got Talent, alongside judges Michelle Visage, Denise Van Outen and Jason Byrne.
43.
Louis Walsh has been a judge on sustainable fashion programme Junk Kouture since 2014 and has been joined by celebrities such as Rosanna Davison, Vogue Williams and Michelle Visage on the judging panel in recent years.
44.
When Ronan Keating announced he wanted to take a break from Boyzone, Louis Walsh continued to manage his career.
45.
Louis Walsh was unaware of Stephen Gately being gay when he selected him for Boyzone and said in 2008 that, had he known, he would have thought twice before picking him.
46.
Louis Walsh elaborated that he might not have picked Gately because "it wasn't cool then to have a gay guy in a band".
47.
Visibly irritated, she scolded and moved away from Louis Walsh, who said he was only "looking after her".
48.
Louis Walsh stated on 21 July 2018 that he grabbed Mel B's buttocks as a joke, but conceded that the gesture was no longer "politically correct" due to social media reaction.
49.
Louis Walsh says that the producers and screenwriters created a narrative to make her appear to be a bully.