Former Everton and Burnley manager Sean Dyche has opened up about the moment he gatecrashed Kerry Katona‘s dinner on an episode of Celebs Go Dating.
Football fans had been left stunned last month by the sudden appearance of Dyche on the Channel 4 show.
Dyche was seen interrupting former Atomic Kitten star Katona’s dinner with personal trainer Paolo Margaglione on the dating show.
‘Oh hello, how are you? How’s it going?’, Dyche asked as Katona broke into laughter.
Narrator Rob Beckett seemed just as surprised as viewers, asking: ‘Hold on, who’s this bloke? Surely not, that’s ex Everton, Watford and Burnley manager Sean Dyche!’
Dyche then joked with Katona: ‘You’re dating these northerners now are ya?’, to which she replied: ‘Yeah! I thought you were going to ask me on a date then! I’m doing well!’
Sean Dyche has revealed the real reason he appeared on Celebs Go Dating last month
Fans had been baffled by an apparent friendship between Dyche and Kerry Katona
Despite their embrace, Dyche admitted he had been asked to make out he knew Katona
The brief segment led to fans questioning the link between Dyche and Katona, with viewers wondering how the two appeared to have become friends.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Dyche revealed the truth around his brief appearance on the show.
He explained that he had been on a boozy evening out with his former team-mates at Millwall, who the former defender had played for between 1999 and 2002, when they had spotted the television cameras.
‘What happened was, I went out with the Millwall lads, we went out and there was about nine of us,’ Dyche explained.
‘We stumbled into a restaurant, and we did stumble in. We were okay but we did stumble in.
‘There were all the cameras there so I said “sorry lads, it is just the way it goes” as a joke, and the lads are buzzing off it.
‘The producer comes over and says “is Sean at it”, I said “yeah”, and he said “look we are celebrity goes dating and would you mind doing a little walk on piece, it would add a bit of flavour to it”.’
Dyche explained he asked about an appearance fee for the segment, which he would use to support Kidney Research.
Dyche was asked to appear by a producer after stumbling into the restaurant while on a boozy evening out with his former Millwall team-mates
Former Atomic Kitten star Katona, who Dyche said was ‘lovely’, had been on a date with personal trainer Paolo Margaglione as part of the show
Dyche has been out of work since he was sacked as Everton manager back in January
‘Of course I had to go on and make out as if I know Kerry,’ Dyche added.
‘By the way she’s lovely as well, let’s make that clear because I know she’s had a bit of an up and down time and takes a bit of stick – she was very gracious and came over and said hello afterwards and that.
‘They sort of plonked me on it, so I did it and thought it would be a laugh for the lads and would be a bit of goodwill.’
Dyche’s explanation put an end to speculation of a possible music connection, with the manager having made no secret of his love of music.
He famously appeared appeared in a music video for The Blossoms single What Can I Say (After I’m Sorry), and has spoken to the BBC about his variety of preferences.
Dyche has in recent years been pictured in Ibiza and Glastonbury by fans during down time, while this week he claimed he convinced Peter Crouch to sign for his Burnley side while they were at the Isle of Wight festival.
Dyche has been out of work since he was sacked as Everton manager in January following a near two-year spell in charge of the Toffees.
The 54-year-old is best known for his decade long spell in charge of Burnley, where he twice guided the Clarets to promotion into the Premier League before establishing them as top flight regulars.
