Celebrity couple Brian Dowling and Arthur Gourounlian have welcomed a new baby girl into their family. They have named her Blu.
Dowling and Gourounlian are already parents to one-year-old Blake, and have now revealed the wonderful news that RTE star Donal Skehan and Dowling’s sister Aoife will be Blu’s godparents.
Aoife acted as a surrogate to bring both Blake and new baby Blu into the world.
Dowling wrote on Instagram: “@gourounlian and I are absolutely delighted that @effidy_dowling_ has said yes to being Blu’s godmother and @donalskehan has agreed to take on the role of godfather. We adore both Aoife and Donal. They will make fabulous godparents and provide Blu with so much love, support and, of course, a little bit of spoiling.”
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The couple’s first child Blake Maria Rose Dowling Gourounlian was born in 2022, and has different godparents: Blake’s godparents are influencer Pippa O’Connor and PR worker Simon Jones.
When Blake was born, Dowling posted to Instagram to thank his sister. “None of this would have been possible without our (egg) donor, a woman we have never met or even seen a picture of but has given us the gift of life,” he wrote, adding that his sister Aoife was a “saint” and that they will be grateful to her “for the rest of our lives”.
The reality TV star turned presenter and his husband have been sharing their parenting journey on social media since Blake’s birth – but sadly, this has attracted “vile”, anti-gay abuse at times.
How did Brian Dowling become famous?
Dowling rose to fame after winning the second series of Big Brother and went on to win Ultimate Big Brother in 2010. He also came third in Hell’s Kitchen and guest-presented Live from Studio Five with Kate Walsh from 2010 to 2011.
In 2011, Dowling was confirmed as the new host of Big Brother, replacing Davina McCall. After presenting two seasons, and four series of Celebrity Big Brother, Dowling was replaced by Emma Willis.
He has since appeared on a number of other reality TV shows and made numerous appearances on This Morning as well as participating in the fourth series of Dancing with the Stars in Ireland.
Dowling’s appearance on Big Brother, and subsequent hosting duties, were very impactful in terms of queer visibility. Fellow TV personality Rylan Clark-Neal has said seeing Brian Dowling win the second season of Big Brother made him realise that “being gay isn’t a bad thing.”
Who is Brian Dowling’s husband and how did they meet?
Dowling met Gourounlian, who has been a judge on the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars since 2022.
The pair met in a club and started dating, but dancer and choreographer Gourounlian didn’t know who Dowling was. The pair dated on and off about four years before splitting up.
They got back together five years later in 2011, which Gourounlian says was “the best thing we ever did”.
Gourounlian proposed in 2014 and they were married in County Wicklow, south of Dublin, the following year, surrounded by family and celebrity friends.