11 May 2024 , 08:38
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Ronan Keating's son Jack has revealed whether he knew that he was going to become a dad before appearing on Love Island as a bombshell in Casa Amor.
The 25-year-old has been the subject of speculation after his ex-girlfriend, Keely Iqbal, welcomed their child seven months after Jack was seen flirting with former footballer Michael Owen's daughter Gemma, when appearing on the 2022 series of the ITV2 dating reality show.
Jack, who is the son of Boyzone singer Ronan and mum Yvonne Connolly, has revealed that he had no idea that he was set to become a father when stepping into the Love Island villa, with the hope of finding love. In March 2023, Jack announced the arrival of daughter Maya and fans of the show were quick to do the maths and begin speculating that he may have known about the pregnancy before being on the show the previous summer.
Jack Keating with his daughter MayaJack told MailOnline : "As soon as I came off Love Island, seven months later, I became a dad. No, I didn't know before going on the show. Adjusting to life after Love Island was hard enough but then I had to deal with being a father… But it has been the most amazing year and a half of my entire life. Maya turned one in February… She melts my heart every time I see her."
The former Love Islander continued to say: "I remember when I posted the Instagram photo, I was so nervous. I didn't actually want to press the button. It blew up. It was an amazing and happy time... but I kept asking myself, am I ready? Am I ready for what comes with this? I was terrified. There was a bombardment of messages and congratulations. I needed a personal assistant to get through all the messages for a week or two."
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Ronan Keating with son Jack (Akkas Chowdhury <akkas.chowdhury@reachplc.com>)Jack has praised his parents for being an inspiration for his parenting and has admitted that they are the two people that he loves the most in the world. The One Show host, Ronan, split from Yvonne in 2010 with them sharing two daughters, Missy, 23, and Ali, 18, as well as Jack. Ronan has since married Storm Uechtritz, in 2015, and welcomed two more children, son Cooper, seven, and Coco, four.
Jack said that he needed their support when becoming a father, as well as friends as he adjusted to his new status of being a dad. He said: "I leant on my family and friends... I have a really big support system around me. My mum and my dad are the two heroes of my life and they're the people I love the most. My two sisters and Cooper and Coco as well they raised so well. I really look to him for guidance and inspiration. All the knowledge and advice he has passed down to me has been great, I wouldn't be here today without him. I'm a family first man, I come as a package deal, and I plan to stay that way."