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Boyzone No Matter What S01E02 Hot 2026
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00:00THE END
00:11Okay, so where Rowan is?
00:13Five, four, three, two...
00:17Hi, I'm Steve.
00:17How are you doing? I'm Mike.
00:18I'm Shane.
00:20I'm Keith.
00:21And I'm Rowan.
00:22And we're boys on.
00:22We'd like to thank you, our fans, for Rowan's best group.
00:26See you later, Mike.
00:32Louis Walsh promised us the sun, noon and stars.
00:38And boy, did he do that.
00:43Everything changed. It became bigger and bigger.
00:48Everything we did, booked.
00:50Every single we released, every album we released,
00:53every ticket we put on sale, sold.
00:56And we're setting sex, really, at the end of the day on stage.
00:59Young girls with hormones, you know,
01:01going through puberty and adolescence.
01:03And it's exciting to see five lads jumping around the stage.
01:06And you don't want to break that illusion.
01:08It wasn't possible for Stephen to be a gay man
01:12in a boy band in the 90s.
01:15I was covering up his sexuality all the time.
01:19And I was pretending he was straight.
01:21Absolutely.
01:21At night time, we got a picture with a pretty girl.
01:24I put him in there and say he was going out there.
01:27And he went with it.
01:30You see all the girls coming back?
01:33He was saying hello to them.
01:36He was quite happy going along with what he was doing.
01:40Go away.
01:40I'm doing an interview.
01:42Go away.
01:43I don't think he would have come out himself,
01:45you know, of his own will.
01:47No.
01:50The push and pull of fame,
01:53the constant scrutiny.
01:56The band, it got more and more intense.
02:00Relationships broke down.
02:02Resentment started within the band.
02:06That was the beginning of the end.
02:40The pop group Take That have confirmed they're to split up
02:43after three years of success,
02:45including seven number one hits.
02:47The band's record company has set up a special phone line
02:50to counsel distraught fans.
02:52When Take That split,
02:55we thought we'd won the bleeding Super Bowl, I think,
02:57because, you know, we were nipping away at their heels so much.
03:01I mean, we were the Irish Take That.
03:03We looked up to them boys.
03:04There was a shift in gear for us.
03:07When Take That decided to call it a day,
03:10you know, the fans needed somewhere to go.
03:13There's no doubt our audience grew.
03:20It was a big year for the band, yeah.
03:22It was a huge year successfully.
03:23Love Me For A Reason was number two.
03:25All the singles after that floated around,
03:28but it wasn't until Words, the first single on the second album,
03:31that we went number one.
03:33It's only words
03:36And words are all I have
03:39To take your heart away
03:43Sharing the stage with the Bee Gees was a big moment for us.
03:46I remember this dreamy realisation
03:49that there I was, stood on the same stage,
03:52singing with these icons.
03:55That was mind-blowing, that was, you know.
03:59Ladies and gentlemen, boys out.
04:03We were kind of the biggest boy band in the world at the time.
04:05It was a pretty big deal.
04:08After that, it went crazy.
04:18The success of it all was so much
04:21that you literally couldn't walk down the street
04:24without being noticed.
04:30It was absolute fame.
04:33It was everywhere.
04:34Everywhere you looked.
04:35Everywhere you went.
04:39We didn't get any media training
04:41or any sort of training.
04:46Kind of made it up as we went along.
04:53It can be dangerous, you know.
04:55There's pitfalls in that.
04:59Looking forward to a Scotch.
05:02Oh!
05:07I was a showbiz journalist from 95 to 2008.
05:13For me, it was Get The Splash, which is the front page.
05:16That's all I cared about.
05:17That was the holy grail.
05:23I think it's over 50 splashes, the front pages I got.
05:26Which is a lot.
05:27I'm not obviously bragging, but I'm quite proud of what I did.
05:30What were you known for?
05:33I don't know.
05:34I think a lot of people have got various words for me.
05:36But to be honest.
05:38I just got stories.
05:40The show was gossip.
05:40And obviously the majority was pop at that time.
05:44Because it was the charts are a huge thing.
05:48We were losing to The Sun every week, almost every day.
05:54It was a really unrelenting war of attrition
05:58between The Sun and The Mirror.
05:59You were always trying to work out their next move
06:02or what their next interview was
06:04or what story they got.
06:06Boyzone became my biggest obsession.
06:10Money is no obstacle.
06:14Everybody was on the payroll.
06:16Security guards at clubs.
06:19They told me stuff.
06:20Drivers.
06:21Coke room attendants.
06:23All sorts.
06:23And a lot of it was they were cheating on people
06:25or whatever it was.
06:26But they did it.
06:28So we wrote it.
06:32Most of the times Lewis said,
06:34write what you want.
06:35There were times when he said,
06:36don't write certain stuff,
06:37but 99% do what the hell you want.
06:47We're doing okay.
06:49What?
06:50We're doing okay so far.
06:52I'm trying to be honest with you.
06:55I got to know Ralph Singh very well
06:57and he would come to Ireland to see me
06:59and get stories of me.
07:00He needed stories.
07:02I needed press.
07:03It worked for both of us.
07:05He would call me up.
07:06I would give him everything on the group.
07:08And we would, you know,
07:10we kept the badge in the papers, basically.
07:14I've respected him a lot.
07:16We had a good relationship.
07:18Louie would tell me,
07:19oh, just don't put this in.
07:21And I said, okay, fine.
07:22But then you owe me one.
07:23Or the other way around,
07:24or, you know.
07:25And that's how it was done.
07:39Stephen was just absolutely living the life that he had dreamt.
07:42The fans absolutely adored him.
07:44They loved him to bits.
07:49Love the way you love me
07:53But he seemed anxious.
07:56I think he might have been a bit lost or worried about, like,
07:58what people might think of his sexuality.
08:02He had to watch himself all the time, like,
08:05everything had to be in secret, you know.
08:10The papers didn't know he was seeing someone at the time.
08:13Bonjour, je m'appelle Lee.
08:17Bonjour, je m'appelle Elon.
08:24I used to be in a boy band called in the Act.
08:27Half British, half Dutch.
08:29We were a boy band, like Boyzone.
08:36We managed to become the biggest boy band in Germany.
08:42We need someone.
08:47Yeah, probably the same audience Boyzone had.
08:51It was a big secret that I'm gay, you know.
08:56Me hiding my sexuality as well was quite a, yeah, difficult thing.
09:03I always felt like a Mickey Mouse in Disneyland, you know.
09:07I mean, in Disneyland it's not allowed to take your head off,
09:09because once you take your head off, the whole magic is gone.
09:12And that's how I felt as well.
09:14If I really show who I am, then people won't like me anymore.
09:19Me and Michael's best friends, look, it was really great, for example.
09:23They look wonderful together.
09:28When I met Stephen for the first time, I was on the airport in England,
09:31and on the same flight was Boyzone.
09:34And that was the first time we sort of met,
09:37and the moment he looked in my eyes and I looked in his eyes,
09:40and I thought, wow.
09:41Yeah, blue eyes, very, very sweet face.
09:46Almost like love at first sight.
09:54It was very difficult to start a relationship then,
09:56with somebody who's travelling all the time, you know.
10:00Kayleigh, get away from me before I break your hand.
10:02No, you won't.
10:04It's very, very difficult keeping up a relationship with anybody.
10:07You're never in the one place at the one time.
10:10You're travelling so much.
10:13I tried to call him with my credit card in the airplane and stuff,
10:17and he tried calling me.
10:18You know why I made a lot of phone calls on the telephone last night?
10:22How am I going to take him?
10:2520 years ago, so no iPhones and stuff then.
10:28Do I have to stay here and go to prison?
10:33Still was dating Eli for quite a period of time.
10:37We knew Eli well.
10:39He used to call on the tour bus.
10:40There was lots of moving pieces around to try and, you know,
10:44make it happen that they were there and they could be together.
10:47This person goes in this car and this, you know,
10:50making sure that they got some time together.
10:53We were so, like, used to hiding our sexuality,
10:57but slowly we started getting friends in,
11:00and then my friends introduced...
11:02I introduced Stephen to them.
11:06I went over to Ireland, met Michel, his family,
11:10he stayed with his family, used to go to the pub,
11:12drink a Guinness and stuff, you know,
11:13and that was the nicest, just experiencing normal life, you know.
11:19I remember Stephen being very excited and telling me,
11:22oh, I've met somebody, and I think this is definitely the real thing.
11:26And I'm absolutely mad about him.
11:31Sometimes I used to look at him and wish I was as happy as he was.
11:37Okay, he might have lived in a certain amount of fear,
11:41but he didn't show that, he didn't show that,
11:43because he almost didn't believe that was possible
11:47for anyone to come in and take, strip him away,
11:51strip that away from him.
11:52I guess he was almost in a bubble of covering,
11:55and he thought that was impenetrable,
11:59and was soon to find that it wasn't.
12:10Somebody came to The Sun, was selling the story
12:13that Stephen was gay.
12:17Somebody sold him out.
12:19Somebody sold Steele out.
12:22Who was it that sold the story?
12:23I can't tell you.
12:24I know you're going to push me on it,
12:25but I can't say any more than that.
12:27I really can't.
12:28Do you know the circumstances
12:30of how Rav came to getting that story?
12:32No, I don't.
12:33I don't know, I swear.
12:35I swear to God.
12:37I didn't want Rav to write anything.
12:40His editor was put under pressure to do it,
12:43and if The Sun didn't do it,
12:45the mayor were going to do it,
12:46or somebody was going to do it.
12:48I think we were flying somewhere,
12:51and this meeting had to happen before we flew away.
12:53We were all brought into a room,
12:55and we didn't know why.
12:57We knew there was something going on with Stephen
12:59because he was very upset,
12:59but we didn't know why.
13:02He knew he told us
13:03that the press were going to write a story about Stephen
13:06if he didn't come out as a gay man.
13:10How do you see it?
13:11Well, I think in a way, if he was forced,
13:14he was forced from his inner circle, not The Sun.
13:18So we did the best we could,
13:20but he was forced by somebody he knew, not us.
13:27He wasn't ready for that.
13:29The poor little fella, he was so afraid, so scared.
13:34And I think we as a band, too, were like,
13:36whoa, what's this going to do for us?
13:38I know how scared he was.
13:41It's awful.
13:43It was fucking horrible.
13:44Like, it was horrible for Steele.
13:49Stephen went to ground, locked himself in his room.
13:55We didn't know what was going to happen.
14:02I want to understand, you know, how big a deal was it for you,
14:05for the paper?
14:06Yeah, can I have some more water?
14:08Can I have some more water?
14:09Yeah, of course, will you?
14:10Oh, sorry.
14:12It's all right, I just need to,
14:13because my mouth's getting dry.
14:18Um, I mean, it was a big thing.
14:19I mean, it's huge.
14:22I had so many phone calls to drive about it.
14:26We knew we could trust him a certain amount.
14:29Not totally, but we could do it our way.
14:33That phone call we always feared was finally happening.
14:37I think Stephen and me were very nervous about it.
14:41I was worrying so much.
14:43I, you know, sleepless nights, worrying, panicking.
14:46You know, it was a hard time.
14:50And I remember just putting my arm around him
14:52and just saying to him, listen, you know,
14:53we'll still be here.
14:56You're not going to lose us.
14:59But he was very concerned
15:01as to what damage it would cause us as a band.
15:09He felt like I'm put in a position that I've no choice,
15:13you know, but to do it, like.
15:15Stephen was only 23 years old when he was outed by the newspapers.
15:22Did you, any part of you feel uncomfortable about writing the article?
15:26No.
15:27I never felt uncomfortable at all.
15:29Not.
15:30How am I a celebrity journalist?
15:32I have to write it.
15:32It's a show visit.
15:33That's my job.
15:34You know.
15:37I actually have the newspaper and I wonder if I can show it to you.
15:40Oh, yeah?
15:46I was fucked, man.
15:56I was fucked.
15:57Boys on stairs, Stephen Gailey has chosen The Sun to make his courageous announcement.
16:01Fuck you.
16:02You didn't fucking choose.
16:13I was just...
16:17No.
16:21It's just a bit difficult.
16:27Just seeing all that again.
16:31what does it bring back for you
16:32what does it kind of the stress of it
16:36yeah
16:39yeah I suppose just
16:42just everything
16:43he went through
16:46you know
16:48it was very
16:49very difficult for him
16:51it's horrible for him
16:54it's heartbreaking
16:56that paper doesn't
16:57show any of the truth and
16:58what he felt or what was going on
17:02awful
17:02fuck me it was awful it was a terrible time for him
17:08oh you got the full
17:09paper oh my god
17:11boys on Stephen and I'm gay and I'm in love
17:13oh he's talking
17:14it's a great picture world exclusive
17:17wow
17:20I love it
17:20page 22, 23
17:23this is when the song was big
17:25and it's the lead
17:27story
17:28wow
17:30it's good to see it
17:31and he got the front page
17:34what's Louis's role in this
17:35as the manager and the kind of press manipulator
17:37I don't know
17:42wasn't seen
17:44wasn't anywhere around
17:46I was trying to protect him all along
17:47I thought well
17:48it's going to come out anyway
17:51and Stephen might be happier
17:55well good morning to you
17:56if you haven't heard
17:57boys own Stephen Gately has come out
17:59he's said that he's not ashamed of being gay
18:01why should he be
18:01and he thinks it's time to be honest and tell everybody
18:04mind you we hear that as usual
18:06the poor lad wasn't given much of a choice
18:07in the timing of that statement
18:08because another newspaper had kindly decided
18:11to out him themselves
18:12I thought they'd all said they wouldn't do that anymore
18:21shortly after the headlines in the newspapers
18:24we had to play into 100,000 people in Hyde Park
18:30obviously with all the press that we're getting lately
18:32with certain members of the group
18:33it's quite difficult
18:34that would be Stephen you're talking about
18:36absolutely
18:37Stephen's kind of keeping a bit of a low profile
18:38we were all just concerned about Stephen's well-being
18:42and his happiness
18:43he was our brother
18:46but Stephen was concerned about the reaction
18:48that the fans would have to him being gay
18:52I didn't know which way he was going to go
18:54whether it was going to go negative
18:55or whether it was going to go positive
18:57and I, you know, always think of the worst
19:29and I feel the coming down on the track
19:33it was a very pleasant surprise for everybody
19:36when the reaction was so positive
19:40the fans embraced him
19:41that's what really carried him
19:44it's the love they showed
19:46for him it was powerful
19:47that was amazing
19:49there was nothing but messages of love
19:53You know, the burden of a lifetime was lifted off his shoulders
19:57and he was free to be who he truly was.
20:15Even after he came out, he was still the favourite one
20:19and he was still the one that everyone wanted to marry,
20:21even though they knew he was gay.
20:26Everything went well.
20:28The sport's been amazing from all directions.
20:31Male, female, young, old.
20:33At the end of the day, it's about giving hope to other people
20:37and I hope that I have done that, you know.
20:42It should be your own decision.
20:45And I know, because the story got offered,
20:47it wasn't our own decision in the beginning,
20:50but the biggest gift we got was freedom.
20:54Freedom is such a beautiful thing, what we all deserve, you know.
21:00And in the end, we were not hiding a horrible secret.
21:04We were hiding love.
21:08Before we perform it, I'd just like to say a big thank you to everybody out there.
21:16For making Barrett Pressed our latest, greatest hits album, number one!
21:23And today, it's gone right back into the charts at number one again,
21:26so thank you very much to all of you out there who bought it once again.
21:31And also a big thank you for making this record our sixth number one.
21:35And this is you, you, the mayor.
21:40And anyway, we were big for a minute.
21:42And we did all right, you know.
21:46The six months after Steele came out.
21:48It was crazy.
21:50It was absolutely crazy.
21:51How are y'all? I'm Ro, and we're Boys Owners.
21:53We'd like to say a big hello to all our fans in Southeast Asia.
21:56We're looking forward to seeing you soon.
21:57You're single would drop in the country that you weren't expecting.
21:59And you're going, holy God, right?
22:00It's just after breaking there.
22:02We've got to get the boys over there.
22:05I love you all my love!
22:07Coming from where we came from, very humble beginnings,
22:11and all of a sudden being catapulted into this superstardom,
22:15travelling in private jets around the world, staying in five-star hotels.
22:18We filled in a lifetime of memories in six years.
22:22Once we conquered one country, we went to the next country.
22:26And we grew there.
22:28We're going under the tunnel over to the island of Hong Kong.
22:31Right now we're underneath the water.
22:34I don't remember anybody really looking out for us,
22:37apart from Mark Plunkett.
22:39I was hired to look after them as tour manager.
22:43With the band day in, day out, you know,
22:4650 weeks of the year, you know, we saw everything together.
22:52Boys on at the Peak would be one of the biggest bands in the world.
22:55It really was like peaceful mania.
22:58I remember one time, they literally shut the airport down.
23:00There were so many girls there.
23:02We just could not move.
23:03We just couldn't get them out of the airport for about half an hour.
23:05It was crazy.
23:07The engine was in full flow.
23:11Trips out to Southeast Asia and Australia, South America and Europe.
23:17It became nuts just the amount of travelling we did.
23:20You could see everyone was getting tired.
23:24The pressures of stardom, the pressures of touring, family pressures,
23:27do start to take its toll.
23:29At some point, something goes bang.
23:3399 was probably the too big for our Boots tour.
23:36We'd lost the run of ourselves at this stage.
23:38This is it. We couldn't have got any bigger.
23:41As it got bigger, it became harder to keep them happy
23:45because they wanted more and they wanted more time off.
23:50At its peak is a grueling time, grueling time.
23:53There's no mercy whatsoever.
23:56We were all physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.
24:00We hadn't more than three weeks off in six years.
24:03We were tired.
24:04We were tired. We were broken.
24:08Very excited about to release every lads.
24:10Yeah. See?
24:11Yay!
24:12So I'm hella excited.
24:13Yay!
24:15We had spent too much time together.
24:18And with that comes difficulties.
24:22You know, relationship difficulties between us.
24:26You know, and maybe that was the start of cracks.
24:37What does me climb with?
24:39Prick.
24:40Ah, that was a nice kick.
24:42What does kick rhyme with?
24:45Dickhead.
24:48It's a difficult job being a manager.
24:50They all had egos and they all wanted to be more famous than they were.
24:56Ronan was the one I could depend on.
24:58I knew if I needed something done, or if there was a gig somewhere that they didn't want to do,
25:03I knew he would talk them into doing it.
25:09I was the line of communication to the rest of the lads.
25:13I was willing to be up earlier than anyone else, to contact everybody, to make sure that the flights were
25:19booked, the taxis were booked, whatever it took.
25:22He was managing the group.
25:24He was managing the group kind of with me.
25:25You know, he was making a lot of decisions.
25:27I was talking to him almost daily on the phone about everything.
25:31There was nothing I didn't talk to him about.
25:37But I knew it wasn't going to last forever, boys aren't.
25:40I knew the little girls that loved them were all grown up, and they were going to find somebody else.
25:54I remember we were touring Southeast Asia.
25:58I used to get a bit homesick. We all did.
26:00And if you had too much to drink, you might get a bit teary-eyed and ring home and reminisce
26:04and have a little cry on the phone.
26:05And, you know, your mum and dad would pick you up and put you back.
26:08And I was talking to my dad, and my dad was always brutally honest.
26:11And he said, I think your days are pretty much numbered, son.
26:14You better enjoy what you're doing.
26:16And I said, how do you mean, dad?
26:17He said, well, while you guys are over there, Louis Walsh is all over the papers,
26:21putting auditions together for a new boy band.
26:23At the time, they were called IOU.
26:26And then they changed their name to Westside, and then ultimately to Westlife.
26:32I thought, how will I promote Westlife?
26:36And I said, we should get Ronan involved.
26:40We thought that's going to help with Boyzone fans.
26:43Louis brought Ronan in as 50% manager of Westlife while Boyzone was still together.
26:49You may have heard the band I'm in, it's Boyzone.
26:51I've had so much crack being in a band that I've decided to manage my own band with Louis Walsh,
26:55so here they are.
26:57How you doing? I'm Brian.
26:59I'm Nicky.
27:00Hello, I'm Shane.
27:02Do you think the boys felt threatened by Westlife coming in and your attention to them?
27:05I think probably boys were a bit threatened when they heard Westlife's thing and all that, yeah.
27:12But that's kind of natural.
27:30Westlife came as our support act on our arena tour.
27:34Whenever you have a support act, your agent will secure what's called a buy-on, which is a significant amount
27:40of money for us, for the band, from the record company of the support act, to get them on your
27:44stage.
27:45But Westlife never paid on. They get on for free, which was a significant amount of money lost.
27:51And that was down to the fact that they were managed by Louis and Ronan.
27:55People were asking me to do things, and some of the others weren't getting asked.
28:02And it definitely created a little bit of animosity. You could feel that.
28:06Welcome back to the last MTV Europe Music Awards of the millennium, where you can't get tickets for love, no
28:12money.
28:12Believe me, I was offered both on the way in.
28:14Anyway, on with the show and here to present the award for best hip-hop.
28:17I was pushing him to host Eurovision, to do MTV Awards, to do anything that was good on TV.
28:23I was always pushing him. I knew he wouldn't let me down, and I knew he would do a good
28:28job.
28:29Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the lead singer of Boy Zone, Ronan Keating.
28:34How are you? I'm fine. How are you?
28:37Good, thanks. Very good.
28:39I had learned through the years how to weed Ronan.
28:43He had a lot of big ideas.
28:45He always taught big.
28:48You could see this guy was breaking away.
28:50He was making new tracks.
28:53I was just surprised that nobody else could see that.
28:58Yes, you know, I maximized an opportunity.
29:02I can get rid of these if you want.
29:04I wasn't embarrassed or feel guilty, you know, because I was the one who was going out doing all the
29:09work.
29:09So I worked hard and it paid off.
29:12.
29:12.
29:12.
29:12.
29:18Without saying a word
29:21You can light up the dark
29:24Nothing at all was Ronan's first solo single
29:28Notting Hill was massive
29:29No matter who would sing it, that was going to be a hit
29:32Add Ronan to the mix, it's going to be a massive hit
29:34The smile on your face
29:36Let's me know that you need me
29:40There's a truth in your eyes
29:42Saying you'll never leave me
29:45The touch of me
29:47It's called When You Say Nothing At All
29:48They ask me would I do it and I jump to the opportunity
29:50I think it's a fantastic opportunity for me
29:53Because it's my first solo record
29:55Fingers crossed it goes well
29:56You say it best
30:00When you say nothing at all
30:03I mean, it was incredible
30:04It was an incredible moment
30:06It was such a huge, massive record globally
30:11It was just a catapult to go everywhere
30:13We promoted that song all over the world
30:16I got a taste for that on my own
30:19It's euphoric, that feeling
30:20That you've had that success on your own
30:24I think that's when, realistically, Polydor looked at that and thought
30:28Hang on a second
30:29They saw more future in Ronan than they did in Boyzone
30:32I can never explain
30:36What I hear when you don't say a thing
30:42He's on a bit of a solo buzz at the moment, you know
30:45He's trying to get a bit of self-praise
30:47There's a start trip going on there, don't mind that
30:49He'll land soon
30:51I think that was the first look at
30:57Ooh, how's this going to work out?
31:11I think it was a hard rock cafe
31:15And we all ended up in a bathroom
31:17And when we all ended up in a bathroom together
31:19It was because we were being overcrowded
31:21Or we were being overcome by fans or people
31:23And we'd go in there to get away, to have a breather
31:26And we'd all look in the mirror
31:28And headbang like we're in a rock band
31:30It was just something that we did
31:31And we'd laugh and scream
31:32And I suppose release some of the energy
31:35Of the realisation of our success
31:38It was like, oh, you know
31:40And it was that moment when Ronan had voiced
31:42The idea of possibly taking from Christmas off
31:45For a year
31:48Ronan simply said, we're going to take a break
31:51I was shocked
31:52But that sounded okay to me
31:54I needed a break
31:55For me, it was music to my ears
31:59Because I had had enough
32:02I just wanted out, you know
32:04I think it was more of a shock to me than anybody else
32:07I do remember feeling, you know
32:09I'm loving this, this is great
32:10This is, you know, I'm 26 years of age
32:12I'm a pop star
32:13Traveling around the world
32:14You know, I'm providing a great future
32:18For myself and my family
32:19I didn't, I didn't want to break up
32:21Nobody wanted to break up
32:24But everybody wanted a break
32:26It was, it's liberating
32:29Scary, fine, but it was liberating
32:31Everyone was ready for a break
32:32Just because they were so tired
32:34But then I think, you know
32:36Certain people knew exactly what they were going to do
32:39Others weren't quite as sure
32:40So I guess they'd be a bit more tentative
32:43A bit more concerned
32:44We decided that we will fulfill
32:46Our obligations in our diary
32:48Until the end of that year
32:51We did a whole millennium tour
32:53So there were shows across the UK and Europe
32:56There were massive, those shows
33:09At the end of the tour we played
33:11Back home in the point that boat
33:12Let's try and make a one to remember
33:15And there was nine nights in a row
33:17And they put a plaque on the wall
33:19Outside the venue
33:21Commemorating our success
33:22And there was a plaque beside us
33:24That would belong to U2
33:25Who had done seven or eight nights
33:26And we'd beaten their record
33:39That probably was the pinnacle of our career
33:43Why would I want to give that up?
33:58Thank you so much for the last six years
34:00It has been unbelievable
34:01Thank you so much
34:05But we're not going anywhere
34:07We're not going anywhere
34:10We've all got some stuff to do on our own
34:12For a while
34:12But believe me
34:13Boyzone is stronger
34:15Than it's ever been before
34:19Good luck, God bless you
34:30I was just looking forward to a break from it all
34:33And to get home and spend time with my daughter more
34:44I don't think I could ever give up the business
34:46I love it so much
34:47The same with the rest of the guys
34:49I'll keep the best part
34:51How are you?
34:52See you all right?
34:53Happy New Year's
34:55I don't know
34:56Still on a bit of a high to be honest
34:57I think tomorrow we'll tell all
34:59And then cry me eyes in
35:02Still out of weather
35:04Thanks everyone
35:06You know it was tough
35:07It was tough leaving the band
35:10There was a sense of guilt
35:12But excitement for me as well
35:18I had zero problem
35:19With him actually going on to do his own album
35:22I think there was probably a fear
35:24That he would never come back
35:27And if that happens
35:28What am I going to do with my life?
35:37Now you might recognise this next book
35:39He's usually got other boys with him
35:41But he's now on his own
35:42Yes of course
35:43It's the wonderful Stephen Gatley
35:57The boys and guys taking a break
36:00And Stephen thought
36:01The attention is there
36:02I need to continue my success
36:05He loved being on stage
36:07And performing and stuff
36:08So he made a solo album
36:15He was very positive about his solo album
36:18He loved being able to put his own input
36:21You know his own songs
36:22And writing his own songs
36:24He was absolutely delighted with it
36:28I'm just out doing my own album
36:30Hoping for the best
36:31Hoping that's going to be a success
36:33I've worked very hard on this album
36:35I spent a lot of time on it
36:37Spent a lot of talk
36:38And I wrote most of the songs myself
36:40And I've been heavily involved
36:42After being in Boyzone
36:43I mean they had so many hits
36:45So the pressure was on
36:49But the soul of success
36:51Everybody sort of expected to happen
36:53Didn't get as big as people hoped for
37:01He thought his childhood dream was over
37:07It was difficult for Stephen
37:09And you saw his mood change
37:13I always described Stephen as a little angel
37:19But the angel wasn't happy anymore
37:21And it was just
37:24Too difficult to be together
37:27So we broke up
37:30I was heartbroken
37:33And he was heartbroken as well
37:38It was not that there was no love anymore
37:40I mean
37:42I still love him now
37:44But sometimes it's just not possible to be together
37:51Our next guest remembers
37:52One of the most famous and prolific bands of the last decade
37:54They've taken a break from the band to team up
37:56With their own duet
37:57And they're here to tell us more
37:58Would you please welcome two old mates to the show
38:00They are Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy ladies and gentlemen
38:05Good morning
38:06Top of the morning to you
38:08Top of the morning to you
38:09We have got a clip of your brand new single
38:11Let's have a look
38:11Yes
38:24We're all doing solo projects
38:28Trying to re-establish our identities as individuals
38:42I did release some music
38:45The record company were like
38:48Oh that's great
38:49Thanks very much
38:50We'll have a look at that
38:52All right
38:52What about you and boys on
38:54Are you doing anything else together
38:55It was really a case of once the band was over
38:59So were you
39:00You know
39:04We went from going three countries
39:06Sometimes in one day
39:10To going nowhere
39:12And no cars turning up
39:13Nobody knocking on the door
39:15A free man
39:16But actually felt more jailed than ever
39:21Because he didn't have to be anywhere
39:22He didn't go anywhere
39:23I didn't go anywhere for months
39:26I stopped socialising
39:28I pretty much hid myself away
39:33For me I wasn't sure where I was going
39:37I felt at the time
39:38That I was kind of left in the desert
39:41To die a tourist
39:43Because I didn't know what way to go
39:47I couldn't look after them all
39:50I had to pick who I wanted to work with
39:52And I picked Rona Keating
39:54Because I just knew
39:55He ticked all the boxes
39:57He works hard
39:57And I knew he had something special
40:16Louis had vision
40:17He had songs
40:18He had melodies
40:19He had ideas
40:20I looked up to him
40:21I was picking songs
40:23He was singing them
40:24We were having hits
40:25It all worked
40:43The juggernaut that was my solo career
40:45At the time
40:46Was so big
40:47And moving so fast
40:49It was almost like
40:49A next level
40:51That I had never witnessed before
40:54I'm here with a single
40:56Hopefully to challenge
40:57The number one spot tomorrow
40:58Rona Keating
40:59And loving each day
41:01Rona Keating
41:04The chart successes
41:05The respect
41:06The kudos
41:06The people are praising you
41:08And all that
41:08It's just overwhelming
41:10It's incredible
41:10I was having more fun
41:21More freedom
41:22It's the best move I made
41:24I could have made
41:24Absolutely
41:34Good to see you again
41:35You too
41:35Been a year
41:36And a lot's happened
41:38In that time
41:39Plenty
41:39Yeah
41:39Solo career
41:40Yeah
41:41Thank God
41:41Yeah
41:43And what about
41:45Boyzone
41:46You know
41:47A lot has gone on
41:47I haven't talked to the guys
41:48In quite a while
41:50So to be really honest
41:51I don't think
41:52Anything's going to happen
41:53You think you and the group
41:54Have split that
41:55You know
41:55I don't
41:56I can't see it coming back together
41:57By no fault of mine
41:58What would
41:59Well whose fault would it be
42:01Well you know
42:01We all made a commitment
42:04There's word coming through Louie
42:06You know
42:07The band want to get back together
42:08And the guys are going
42:10Are you coming back
42:10Are we making a record
42:11What's going on
42:12And me being sheepish about it
42:16And me being childish about it
42:17And me being scared
42:20I just back away
42:23I just back away from the lads
42:25And I back away from the commitment
42:27In the band
42:29And
42:31I'm chicken shit
42:32What do I do
42:33I ignore the guys
42:34I ignore them
42:37Unfortunately
42:37Ronan
42:38Is happy enough
42:39Without his friends
42:40From Boyzone
42:41And that's something
42:42I can't understand
42:42You know
42:43I know Ronan of Boyzone
42:45I don't know the Ronan of today
42:46I really don't
42:48I was probably a little bit envious
42:50And lost
42:51A friendship fell apart
42:53And I kind of felt left behind
42:56Ronan was being
42:57Very successful
42:58He was selling a lot of records
43:00He was making Polo a lot of money
43:01And they weren't going to let that stop
43:03You can't blame him for that
43:06It wasn't until
43:07A good year
43:09Into that break
43:10Do the realisation came
43:12Oh shit this is over
43:14And we ain't coming back
43:26We got a phone call
43:27From Ronan
43:28Telling me that Stephen was dead
43:31And
43:32I said Stephen who
43:34What do you mean
43:35No no
43:36Not our Stephen
43:41We got a phone call
43:41We got a phone call
43:48We got a phone call
43:51We got a phone call
43:52We got a phone call
43:53We got a phone call
43:53We got a phone call
43:53We got a phone call
43:54We got a phone call
43:54We got a phone call
43:54We got a phone call
43:54We got a phone call
43:54We got a phone call
43:55We got a phone call
43:56We got a phone call
43:57We got a phone call
43:59We got a phone call
44:02We got a phone call
44:14Transcription by CastingWords
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