Walsh's first television work was in 2001, in the
Irish version of
Popstars. The following year Walsh appeared as a judge on the UK
ITV show
Popstars: The Rivals with
Pete Waterman and
Geri Halliwell. Walsh went head-to-head with Waterman on the show with his girlband
Girls Aloud battling it out with Waterman's boy band
One True Voice. Girls Aloud's debut single "
Sound of the Underground" reached number one in the UK. Walsh managed the band to achieve a million singles sales while their debut album went platinum. Walsh also frequently appears on various talent shows on
Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the most recent being ''
You're a Star. He covered for Simon Cowell as a judge on Britain's Got Talent'' during series four's
Birmingham auditions in February 2010, due to Cowell being ill. He again filled in for
David Hasselhoff at the London auditions in the following series when Hasselhoff was unavailable due to appearing in pantomime. In January 2012, Walsh appeared on the ITV documentary series
The Talent Show Story where he was interviewed about being a judge on
The X Factor and
Popstars The Rivals. Fellow
Popstars judge
Pete Waterman also appeared on the programme as well as past and present
X Factor judges, including Dannii Minogue, Simon Cowell, Kelly Rowland and Gary Barlow.
The X Factor Walsh appeared from 2004 as a judge, along with
Simon Cowell and
Sharon Osbourne, on ITV talent show
The X Factor. In 2004, Walsh found chart success with
G4, who went on to have a chart-topping album and completed two tours of the UK. In 2005, Walsh managed the winner
Shayne Ward, whose debut single "
That's My Goal" spent four weeks at UK number one. In November 2005, Walsh quit the show mid-series out of protest regarding his treatment on the show; the most explicit example being Osbourne's drenching him with water during a live recording. Walsh returned on the Saturday evening's live show, stating that he could not abandon his remaining contestant and eventual winner, Shayne Ward. Ward went on to win the competition with over 10 million votes in the final. Walsh then went on to win
The X Factor: Battle of the Stars with actress
Lucy Benjamin. ITV announced in March 2007 that Walsh would not return as a judge on
The X Factor, but would remain behind the scenes managing some acts from the show. According to UK tabloid newspaper
The Sun, the decision to be replaced with two other judges came as a shock to him. He was replaced on the panel by American choreographer
Brian Friedman. Osbourne, Cowell, Friedman and new judge
Dannii Minogue appeared at the London auditions; however, after the first few days, Cowell decided to re-hire Walsh to the panel and hire Friedman as a choreographic instructor for the live show stages. On 22 June 2007, Walsh confirmed he would be returning as a judge for the
fourth series of
The X Factor. Friedman then became the show's creative director. Walsh mentored the Over 25s category in series four. In the 'Judges Houses' stage of the competition, Walsh took his contestants to
Dublin and invited guest
Kian Egan to help him decide whom to take through to the live shows. Cowell reportedly told Walsh off for his comments about the
Spice Girls. Walsh had said that the girl group were "past their sell-by date" and lacking in talent, but Cowell already had plans to book the girls on the show. In 2008, Walsh returned for the
fifth series along with Cowell, Minogue and
Cheryl Cole, who was hired after Osbourne quit the previous June. In this series, Walsh mentored the groups, choosing
JLS, Girlband and
Bad Lashes to represent him in the live shows. Walsh took his contestants to
Castle Leslie in Ireland during the judges houses stage where he was aided by Westlife star
Shane Filan. Bad Lashes and Girlband were the first two contestants to be eliminated over the first two weeks, but JLS finished as runners-up. Walsh returned to the
sixth series show in 2009, again mentoring the groups for the fourth time in six years. During the judges houses stage, the Groups and Walsh flew to
Lake Como in Italy where Boyzone singer Ronan Keating helped Walsh pick his top three contestants. Walsh took
Kandy Rain,
Miss Frank and
John & Edward to the live shows. Kandy Rain were eliminated in the first live results show, from which Walsh was absent due to the sudden death of Boyzone member
Stephen Gately. Walsh was absent again on the Saturday and Sunday of the second week of live shows due to Gately's funeral on 17 October. In week three, Miss Frank were eliminated from the competition, while John & Edward were eliminated in week seven, though went on to have successful careers in the industry. In 2010, Walsh mentored the Over 28s category on the seventh series of
The X Factor. In the judges houses stage, Walsh took his contestants to
Adare in Ireland. Walsh was helped by former judge, Sharon Osbourne. His last surviving contestant,
Mary Byrne, was a semi-finalist been the twelfth contestant eliminated. Walsh returned to the show in 2011 for series eight. He joined new panellists
Gary Barlow,
Kelly Rowland and
Tulisa, who replaced former judges Cowell, Minogue and Cole, all of whom left the show after series seven. This meant that, following Cowell's departure, Walsh became the only original judge left on the programme. During the Bootcamp stages it was announced that he would mentor the Over 25s category for the rest of the competition. In the Judges Houses stage, Walsh took his contestants to
Barcelona in Spain where he was aided by Cowell's former assistant judge
Sinitta. Walsh chose
Kitty Brucknell,
Sami Brookes,
Johnny Robinson and
Jonjo Kerr to go through to the live shows. His most successful contestant of the competition was Brucknell who made it to week six of the live shows before she was eliminated. During the live shows of series eight, in an interview with former judge Minogue, Walsh stated that he did not know whether he would return as a judge in 2012. However, on 3 May 2012, Walsh confirmed he would return for his ninth series alongside Tulisa and Barlow. Former American
X Factor judge
Nicole Scherzinger who replaced
Kelly Rowland joined Walsh, Contostavlos and Barlow as the new full-time judge for
ninth series. Walsh filled in for Cowell at the Kansas City auditions for
season two of
the American version while Cowell was recovering from
bronchitis. He joined the other season two judges:
L.A. Reid,
Demi Lovato and
Britney Spears, and was introduced with the line, "When Simon needs an opinion from someone he trusts, I'm the man he calls". His episode broke ratings records for the series. Walsh returned for the
tenth series and was joined by Barlow, Scherzinger and fellow original judge Osbourne, who replaced Tulisa. Due to being the only judge to remain for the whole ten years, he was awarded by being assigned the Boys category, instead of the Overs and Groups he was assigned to every year, since mentoring Shayne Ward in 2005. His category consisted of
Nicholas McDonald,
Luke Friend, and
Sam Callahan. McDonald runner-up to
Sam Bailey, mentored by Osbourne. Despite not winning, this was still by far Walsh's most successful year as a judge on the show due to going 5 weeks (breaking a record) without having any of his contestants in the bottom two and had two of them (Friend and McDonald) in the final. In 2014, Walsh returned for the
eleventh series, while Barlow, Osbourne and Scherzinger were replaced by former judges Cowell and Cole, and new judge
Mel B. In 2015, Walsh stated that he was considering not returning to the
twelfth series of
The X Factor, citing his desire to return to full-time music management. After rumours circulated that he had been fired from the show, Walsh announced his decision to quit the show, stating that he had not been fired, but he was not "hanging around for them this year." In 2016, Walsh returned as a judge to replace
Nick Grimshaw for the
thirteenth series, alongside Cowell, Osbourne (who replaced Cheryl) and Scherzinger (who replaced
Rita Ora). The same judges returned for the
fourteenth series. On 7 June 2018, Walsh announced he had decided not to return for the
fifteenth series, in order to focus on music management and other commitments. "The show needs a change and I'm ready to leave," said Walsh in a statement. Walsh was replaced by
Robbie Williams. In 2019, Walsh along with Cowell and Scherzinger returned to
The X Factor as judges in the newly created format
The X Factor: Celebrity. He was mentor of the winner
Megan McKenna, marking Walsh's third overall victory on the show.
''Ireland's Got Talent'' In May 2015, it was announced that Walsh would be launching a new Irish talent show, produced by Cowell, with himself as a judge, set to premiere in 2017 or 2018. Walsh stated that he would like to broadcast an Irish edition of
Got Talent, though he stated that the untitled talent show was only in early development. Walsh later confirmed himself on ITV's
This Morning as head judge on the show, ''
Ireland's Got Talent'', alongside judges
Michelle Visage,
Denise van Outen and
Jason Byrne. The show launched on 3 February 2018 on
TV3 and ran for two series before being cancelled in July 2019.
Junk Kouture Walsh has been a judge on
sustainable fashion programme
Junk Kouture since 2014 and has been joined by celebrities such as
Rosanna Davison,
Vogue Williams and
Michelle Visage on the judging panel in recent years.
Other television In July 2011, he raced the "Reasonably Priced Car", a
Kia Cee'd, during
series 17 of
Top Gear On 1 September 2014, Walsh appeared on an episode of ''
Who's Doing the Dishes? In January 2016, ITV announced that Walsh would appear in Drive'', a new show which pitted eight celebrities against each other in a series of races in different vehicles. Hosted by
Vernon Kay, the show began airing on 5 April 2016 In 2023 he was a guest on Channel 5's
Eurovision: 30 Unforgettable Moments a chart countdown based on the song contest which also featured contributions from
David and
Carrie Grant,
The Fizz and
Johnny Logan, with footage from the 1980s' contest showing Walsh cheering on Logan included in the run time. In March 2024, Walsh entered the
Celebrity Big Brother house as a housemate on the
twenty-third series. During his stint in
Celebrity Big Brother, Walsh revealed that he had survived a diagnosis of
Waldenström macroglobulinemia, a rare form of
blood cancer, in 2020 during the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic. He reached the final and finished in fourth place. ==Groups and performers managed by Walsh==