The Westlife star is already a seasoned radio and television presenter, but with his new show – Last Singer Standing – Byrne will be combining his two great talents: singing and looking sharp on the telly.
The karaoke-inspired game show will see singers from around Ireland compete to win a €25,000 prize, with pop superstars Nadine Coyle, Joey Fatone and Samantha Mumba joining the show as panelists and sharing their expert opinions.
But one string we didn't expect to see him adding to his bow was that of staycation expert, having shared his list of must-see spots to visit in Kerry, where he recently holidayed with his family.
The star has been visiting the Kingdom for years, so you know you can trust his recommendations. You might even say he gives honorary tourism ambassador Patrick Dempsey a run for his money.
It turns out the singer knows the Kingdom extremely well, as he and his family have "gone every year on bank holiday weekend", while his wife Georgina "has been going down to that part of the world with her dad and her sisters since they were babies".
"It has its own little gulf stream, it seems to be a couple of degrees hotter and sunnier than the rest of the country. We experienced that again this year, it rained everywhere and you've got this little pocket of beautifulness and calmness and walks and sunshine."
The family wasted no time in making the most of the scenery and weather: "We went out on a couple of boats and we saw dolphins and whales. It's just lovely, considering the year everybody has had. There's no real socialising [at the moment], in the bar until all hours like we would have used to back in the day, but it's just lovely to share it with family."
So where do you go for the true Nicky Byrne experience? The star says they always stay at Parknasilla, the stunning destination hotel on the Ring of Kerry, that overlooks the Kerry mountains. "That alone is about 300 or 400 acres, you've got the water, the walks, all those love things to do", he says.
From there they go to Kenmare to "sample some of the food" such as in Mulcahy's restaurant, "which does a fantastic pint of Guinness". He adds: "Slieve is beautiful, and I've got to mention the village kitchen who always serve some great food."
He dressed to impress while there, too, saying, "I did don the Paddy cap and the traditional Aran sweatshirt that I bought in Quills", the revered Woollen Market in Killarney. And by the looks of it, he got fully into the swing of things while down in the Kingdom: "In fact, a guy stopped in a truck with a tractor on top. I asked if I could jump on the back of it for a picture, which made me look like I was on the set of Far and Away or something."
Like the rest of us, the last 18 months have been "strange to say the least", he says. "The summer, weather-wise, was good so everybody got to go on their walks and keep themselves sane.
"From a schooling perspective, my lads missed out on the last three months of primary school, they missed their confirmation. Then, when we got back in September, their confirmation date had been put back in, but Dublin was put back into lockdown so they missed it again.
They now have completed first year behind a mask, they're now heading into second year still with no confirmation date."
For Byrne too, the past year was an unnervingly quiet one: "This is the longest I've been out of work, so to speak. I've never sat around for this amount of time. I'm not the kind of person who likes to sit around, but this was all for the right reasons. Like everyone, [I'm] dying to get back into some sort of normality.
"Thankfully, it feels like things are moving out!"
Not only that, but he's happy to report that the year of being stuck indoors with no holidays to relieve the pressure hasn't dented his marriage. In fact, "it's as strong as ever", he says.
"Getting time with the kids and G has been brilliant, particularly after coming back after the year-long tour that we did, that's travelling an awful lot. [kids wouldn't travel to asia or other far-off places]
I think you need that base, you need that strength to keep you going."
