Boyzone star snubs reunion after not speaking to other members for five years
The members of Boyzone reunited tonight for the first time in seven years.
However, one star was noticeably absent from the red carpet as they celebrated the release of their upcoming Sky docuseries, No Matter What.
Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, and Shane Lynch all put on a smiley display as they posed for photos together, having first become members of the Irish group in 1993.
Missing was Mikey Graham, who has seemingly retreated from fame and no longer speaks to his former bandmates.
The trio couldn’t have looked happier as they embraced one another at The Roundhouse ahead of the premiere of the series, which features never-before-seen footage from the band’s early days, as well as clips of manager Louis Walsh.
All looked super suave as Ronan, 47, donned a brown cardigan, Keith, 50, wore a garish red leopard print shirt, and Shane, 48, showed off his tattoos with buttons undone.
Meanwhile, Mikey, 52, was nowhere to be seen, having said he no longer wishes to be part of the ‘toxic’ music industry.
Now living in rural Ireland, the pop star was once known as ‘The Quiet One’ in the band, which also included Stephen Gatley until he died in 2009.
Mikey hasn’t had any contact with Ronan, Keith, or Shane since their last show together, saying in the documentary that he has no plans to go back.
While he insists that he wishes the other members ‘the best’ and has ‘no grudges,’ he declared: ‘I don’t want to go back to how I felt for many years.’
‘To see them, if it were for too long, would remind me of that and my future is far too important for me to waste it looking back at my past.’
It was previously claimed that Mikey and Ronan grew irritated with Keith and Shane’s wild antics as they toured together, which resulted in them having separate dressing rooms.
Tensions throughout their 2019 tour came to a head when the members argued repeatedly.
The worst row involved Keith and Mikey, with Keith admitting that ‘there were things that happened that were cruel,’ while refusing to divulge further details.
Mikey also said he ‘just wanted to get out.’
Boyzone continued as a four-piece after the tragic death of Gately at 33 from an undiagnosed heart condition. Their final tour was in 2019.
Their documentary chronicles their rise to stardom as young lads and their own personal journeys with fame.
Speaking last week, Life is a Rollercoaster hitmaker Ronan confessed that it had been a ‘harrowing’ experience—but also a ‘fun’ one to venture down memory lane.
‘It took us two years to get here and to make this film, and it was worth the wait. There were times when I thought, “I’m making a mistake making this film”,’ he said.
‘I don’t really want the world to see the mistakes we made and the people that, maybe, at times, we were behind the scenes. That wasn’t pretty.
‘But I realised that the truth needed to be told. That’s why it is the film that it is.’
He described the doc as ‘incredibly honest,’ albeit ‘incredibly tough to watch at times’.
‘Every time I watch it, I’m a mess. But I’m proud of it.’
He has also been reflecting on losing Gately, telling Sunday with Miriam on RTÉ Radio 1 that none of the members have ‘come to terms’ with it.
Their beloved friend and bandmate, ‘Steo,’ as he was known, was pressured to come out as gay before tabloids exposed his sexuality.
Ronan said that looking back on that time was ‘very upsetting’.
‘The injustice that happened at that time, it’s left me bitter. I miss him still. It’s unfair the hurt, the pain that was caused.’
Ronan, who worked as a producer on the documentary, wishes for it to be in tribute to him.
‘If nothing else, this film is Stephen’s legacy, that people get to see the beautiful human being that he was, the talent, the heart, but also how badly he was treated because he could never talk about it.’
Boyzone’s three-part documentary series, No Matter What, streams on Sky Documentaries and NOW from February 2.
Boyzone star snubs reunion after not speaking to other members for five years
