Brendan Courtney is an IrishTV presenter, broadcaster & fashion designer. He has written many hit TV formats and made award-winning documentaries. His fashion label Lennon Courtney began in 2012. He is the first openly gay presenter in Ireland. He created and hosted Wanderlust on RTÉ Two, Treasure Island RTE2, Holiday Home Detectives RTE1 The Brendan Courtney Show on TV3, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV2, Blind Date on ITV2, Love Match on ITV1, Look of Love on ITV1, The Clothes Show on UKTV and Off the Rails on RTÉ One. He is one half of design duo "Lennon Courtney" along with Sonya Lennon which is stocked in Dunnes Stores. He has most recently made the hit authored documentary titled "we need to talk about Dad" which aired on RTE1 in 2017 and looks set to change the law in Ireland. Other documentaries include "Living with Boy George" SKY TV and "Alias Ricky Grrvais" Bravo TV. Brendan and Sonya's partnership has extended to founding fashion discovery app "fafinder" hundreds of boutiques in one place.
Career
Courtney began his career on RTÉ Two's Wanderlust and ITV1's Love Match UK. He was the main developer of the idea of Wanderlust. He previously hosted The Brendan Courtney Show, a prime time talk show on Ireland's TV3 television channel. He also presented the RTÉ reality showTreasure Island. In October 2006, he became the presenter on ITV2's late night dating show Playdate. From 2006–2008 he hosted and produced The Clothes Show with Caryn Franklyn and Louise Redknapp, As of Autumn 2008, he was co-hosting RTÉ One's Off the Rails. He also frequently hosted at the Clothes Show Live in Birmingham. He was on the panel of judges on Ladies' Day at the 138th Discover Ireland Horse Show on 4 August 2011. He has also judged Alternative Miss Ireland in The George, Dublin. He has written and published 2 No.1 bestseller books, LOVE YOUR LOOK in 2009 and YOUR BEST YOU in 2012.
Personal life
In August 2009, Courtney spoke at a rally in Dublin requesting full marriage equality. He was battered by a gay bashing stranger while walking home down South Great George's Street in Dublin in 2011. A man in his early twenties punched him in the face and shouted "queer" before running away. Courtney said it was "disgraceful" that such an incident could occur in Dublin. He told Liveline that more than 50 other gay people had told him of their own experiences of being assaulted or verbally abused in towns nationwide.
