Heart transplant survivor meets Niall Horan on ‘The Voice’ after 8 years — and the reunion is heartwarming
'The Voice' coach Niall Horan recently had a heart-touching reunion with a fan on the sets of the beloved singing competition. Not long ago, Taylor Rand, a 23-year-old who is currently working as a page for NBC in Los Angeles, got the chance to meet the former One Direction member backstage on the set of 'The Voice,' and she gave some great news to the coach that brought a smile to his face. Their sweet interaction was captured by the cameras. According to NBC, in the video shared, Rand asked Horan, "Do you remember when you performed 'Slow Hands' at the American Music Awards [in 2017]?" to which Horan replied, "I do."
Following that, Rand further added, "I had my Make-A-Wish to come to the American Music Awards in 2017." Then, she showed Horan a throwback picture of the duo from the event. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that fulfills the wishes of children suffering from critical illnesses. In 2016, when Rand was 14 years old, she underwent a heart transplant, and she had only one wish: to attend the American Music Awards.
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At that point, Horan was one of the stars who performed at the annual music ceremony. As Horan took a trip down memory lane, he shared, "What? At the soundcheck! I remember that so well, in the morning time." The 'This Town' hitmaker, who looked stunned, went on to ask, "Fourteen and had a heart transplant. And everything's fine since?" In her response, Rand explained, "Everything's been fine since. I'm 23 and I'm here now!"
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Shortly afterward, Horan quipped, "Twenty-three and healthy. Look at us again, all these years later." Then, Rand asked the singer, "What's it like, just being in the industry?" to which Horan responded by saying, "It's amazing, it's a great industry. You make what you want [out] of it. Work hard and be humble and try to have as much of a good time as you possibly can — like I do." Once the clip of Horan and Rand's was uploaded on YouTube, the fans couldn't stop gushing over their feel-good reunion. One social media user stopped by the comments section of the video and wrote, "That is really beautiful." Followed by a second user who penned, "That’s amazing, 9 yrs. Keep going." Another commented, "I'm happy for him. Keep doing your thing."
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'The Voice' Season 28 premieres on September 22, 2025, at 8 pm ET on NBC. In case you miss the premiere of the show for any reason, you can catch it on Peacock the next day. The coaches who will be returning to the judges' panel for the upcoming installment of the show include Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, Michael Bublé, and Horan. In the new season, there will be six episodes of blind auditions. The number of artists who will be auditioning every episode can vary, but each coach will eventually end up with 12 artists on their team after a total of 48 blind auditions are passed through to the next stage of the competition.