Ronan Keating has admitted he was an “absolute mess” watching his son Jack enter the notorious Casa Amor villa on Love Island.
Jack, who is the Boyzone star’s eldest son from his first marriage to Yvonne Connolly, was among the new batch of boys who entered the second villa over the weekend.
The 23-year-old social media marketer has so far bonded with 19-year-old Gemma, the daughter of football star Michael Owen, over them both having famous parents.
Speaking to the BBC’s The One Show on how it felt watching his son on the dating series, Ronan said: “I’m a mess, an absolute mess”.
He admitted that his wife Storm was handling the situation better and that Jack’s younger siblings were missing him in the house.
When asked if he had tried to persuade his son not to take part in the show, he joked: “You know the kids today they don’t listen to us even if we did try and talk them out of it.”
The singer said he had instead just given Jack the advice to “be yourself and have a good time” but admitted that as a father he just wants to “protect and look after him”.
It's *that* time… Meet the boys of Casa Amor 😍 #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/u9muQqFlCF
— Love Island (@LoveIsland) July 1, 2022
The arrival of Jack and the other five newcomers was teased at the end of Friday’s episode after the girls headed to Casa Amor but viewers got a chance to properly see them on Sunday.
Ronan noted that his son had been “very quiet” during the episode, adding: “He seemed a little bit nervous which is understandable I guess.
“I wish him the best. I hope he does okay. He’s got such a big heart and he’s a real softy so I’m just worried about him in there with all those other guys.”
The One Show presenter Jermaine Jenas pointed out that Jack and Gemma seemed to get along well.
He suggested that Ronan and Michael could be in-laws if things went well for the pair, to which the singer jokingly replied they would be more like “outlaws”.