Niall Horan has a squeaky clean reputation in the Kardashian-West household — at least, as far as dental hygiene goes. On the kickoff episode of this season of The Voice, the returning coach shared the unconventional way Kim Kardashian introduced him to her and Kanye West‘s eldest daughter North West, who apparently associated the Irish singer more with brushing her teeth than with his music or One Direction.
“The first time I met Kim Kardashian, I was backstage at an Ariana Grande concert,” he shared. “And she brought North, her daughter, up. And this is how she introduced North to me, she said, ‘North, this is the guy that sings from your toothbrush!’”
The topic came up following a stellar blind audition from 19-year-old Olivia Minogue, who revealed that she was wearing a “Niall” necklace after finishing her performance of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.” This prompted Horan to joke that “the merch did well, guys!” before sharing his story about the teeth-cleaning piece of merchandise evidently purchased by the Kardashian-West family.
Based on the “Slow Hands” singer’s story, it’s unclear whether Kardashian was referring to a toothbrush that played one of Horan’s solo songs or a track from his former boy band’s discography, although co-coach John Legend seemed to think it was the latter. “You guys had singing toothbrushes?” the “All Of Me” musician asked incredulously.
“Oh, did we,” Horan confirmed. Then, emphasizing his point, Minogue revealed that she actually used to have one herself.
Unsurprisingly, Minogue went on to choose Horan as her coach for the season, even though Legend and newcomer Reba McEntire had also both turned their chairs around for the teenager’s soulful voice. The three musicians, along with Gwen Stefani, make up The Voice coaching panel for season 24, which premiered on Monday (Sept. 25). It marks Horan’s second season on the show.
Watch Horan recall meeting Kim Kardashian and North West in the video above.