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No pay for Kian's Xtra gig

Kian Egan is not being paid anything for his role filling in for Olly Murs on The Xtra Factor.

He told the Mirror newspaper: “The role on the Xtra Factor – I’m doing that for free because it’s only a stepping stone rather than a full time thing. From that perspective, it’s not about the money, it’s about having some fun”.

He also recently tweeted a warning to current host Olly Murs warning him he’s after his seat – “Well all I say is watch out Olly Murs!! Ha ha,” he tweeted.

The Sligo native also revealed that the stint on the ITV2 show has also given his the opportunity to do some bonding with Westlife manager and X Factor judge Louis Walsh. “It’s real fun to be around him because even when he was managing Westlife we wouldn’t have spent this much time together”.

While Kian says judging is “something I really enjoy doing on The Voice”, he said if a chair was offered to him on the X Factor panel he would jump ship. “The X Factor is a huge show that if I was asked to join, it would be something very hard to turn down”, he said.

However he is currently enjoying his role as stand in presenter on Xtra Factor while Olly Murs is on tour. “It’s a fantastic thing to be part of and to be able to hang out backstage with all the contestants and judges, just getting to know everybody, is great”.

However despite not being paid for the gig Kian won't have to worry about the household bills as he has just received his final pay cheque from the Westlife farewell tour. It has not been disclosed how much each band member received but SligoToday.ie reported earlier that a hefty PAYE bill of over €300k was paid out on the bands company account recently.

The reforming of the all girl band Wonderland, which includes Kian's wife Jodi Albert in the line-up, and his management contract will ensure the funds keep rolling in.