Westlife star, Kian Egan, admitted he doesn't care if he's been branded TV's Mr Nasty on RTE's new talent show, The Voice.
Show insiders have claimed Kian's bluntness will see him compared to X Factor star Simon Cowell when the series kicks off this weekend.
However, Kian insists that he is not deliberately setting out to be the show 'meanie'. "I'm not going nasty for the sake of it," he said. But I'm definitely going to give my opinion and I'm not going to sugarcoat it to spare someone's feelings. I think we owe it to the contestants to be frank - the music industry is a harsh place and they have to face the realities of it."
He admitted he doesn't care if he's branded the Irish Simon Cowell. "I think Simon is brilliant," he said. "His talent is simply saying what people are thinking at home. He just says it as it is. I don't think he's deliberately cruel - I think he's very practical."
Kian claims his aim is to encourage the contestants but to be brutally honest when necessary. "It drives me mad when I'm watching a show and judges are not being honest," he said. "There's a lot of times I've felt like throwing my shoe at the telly. I don't want viewers of The Voice feeling that way. I think we've got to say it like it is. We owe it to the viewers and the contestants."
He admitted that his candid opinions have also led to rows with the other judges on the show. "We have differences of opinions," he said. "Myself and Brian don't see eye to eye a lot of the time and there have been rows on camera. It's probably because each of us gets precious about our acts and it's hard not to wade in and defend them if another judge is being critical. All of us come from a different place in the music industry and all of us have very different views."