Megan Elizabeth McKenna is an English television personality, singer and businesswoman. After making appearances on Ex on the Beach, she received wider attention for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother and The Only Way Is Essex. McKenna then launched her music career, releasing her debut studio album, Story of Me, and later went on to win in 2019, subsequently signing a record deal with Syco.
Early life
McKenna was born on 26 September 1992 in Barking, London. In her autobiography, Mouthy, McKenna explained that as a child, she was bullied at school. In order for her to attend the Arts Educational School to study musical theatre, her family relocated to Chiswick.
Career
2009–2017: ''Ex on the Beach'', ''Celebrity Big Brother'' and ''The Only Way Is Essex''
In 2009, McKenna reached the semi-finals of third series of Britain's Got Talent as part of the music duo Harmony. In the same year, she appeared in an advertisement for the second series of The Inbetweeners. McKenna appeared in an episode of The Only Way Is Essex in 2010, where she auditioned to be part of the girl group LOLA. As part of LOLA, she performed at T4 Stars of 2010. She also auditioned for The X Factor twice, making it to bootcamp each time. In 2015, McKenna appeared on the third series of MTV reality series Ex on the Beach. She returned to the programme for the fourth series, alongside Jordan Davies. She departed from Ex on the Beach early due to the death of her grandfather. She went on to become a housemate in the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016. During her time in the house, she received a formal warning for using aggressive and threatening behaviour towards her fellow housemates. She was the fourth housemate to be evicted having received the fewest votes to save, spending a total of 18 days in the house. In March 2016, she joined The Only Way Is Essex as a full-time cast member. In May 2017, McKenna launched her own restaurant, "MCK Grill", in Woodford Green. Later in 2017, she released a range of hair extension pieces with Easilocks. McKenna made her final appearance on The Only Way Is Essex on 25 October 2017, expressing an interest in focusing on her music career.
2017–2019: ''There's Something About Megan'', ''Story of Me'' and ''The X Factor''
In 2017, McKenna starred in her own reality series, There’s Something About Megan. The series focused on McKenna travelling to Nashville to begin a career in country music. The series consisted of three episodes, and aired on ITVBe. After the series finale, McKenna launched her music career, releasing her debut extended play, featuring "High Heeled Shoes" and "Far Cry from Love". The two songs topped the British iTunes chart within 24 hours of their release, and on the UK Singles Chart, "High Heeled Shoes" peaked at number 43, with "Far Cry From Love" peaking at number 53. In December 2017, McKenna embarked on her first headlining tour to promote the release of "High Heeled Shoes", which consisted of four dates, visiting The Sugarmill, The Venue, Palace Theatre and Scala. In July 2018, she supported Michael Bublé at the British Summer Time show at Hyde Park. On 26 July 2018, McKenna released her debut autobiographical book, Mouthy, published by John Blake. The book topped the Sunday Times bestseller list. In August 2018, she released her debut clothing range, Studio Mouthy. This accompanies her makeup range, Mouthy Cosmetics. Later that month, McKenna took part in the first series of Celebs on the Farm. She was eliminated second, finishing in seventh place. McKenna released her debut albumStory of Me on 7 December 2018. The album peaked at number four on the UK Country Chart. From May 2019 to September 2019, McKenna embarked on the Story of Me Tour across the United Kingdom. In February 2019, she participated in the sixth series of the E4 reality series Celebs Go Dating. From October to November 2019, McKenna competed in the ITV series . For her audition, she performed "Everything but You", a song from Story of Me. On 30 November, she was crowned the winner of the competition with 46.3% of the final vote, winning a record deal with Syco.
2020: Upcoming second studio album
In February 2020, McKenna began recording her second studio album, and later that month, it was announced that she is set to support Lionel Richie on the British leg of his tour.
Personal life
In 2016, McKenna revealed that she suffers from coeliac disease. In March 2016, she began dating The Only Way Is Essex cast member Pete Wicks, but the pair broke up in 2017. In 2018, she was in a relationship with Love Island contestant Mike Thalassitis; they broke up in August 2018. In October 2019, McKenna revealed in an interview with Beth Neil of Fabulous that she had dissolved her lip fillers, stopped drinking alcohol and began attending therapy.
