Celebrity Big Brother viewers were moved last night as Shane Lynch spoke candidly about the death of bandmate Stephen Gately.
The Boyzone star remembered Gately as “the sing man” and himself as “the wing man” while discussing the reaction to his friend’s sudden death in 2009
Gately passed away due to an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 33.
Lynch told singer Ginuwine that Boyzone will “always be five” regardless of Gately’s passing.
He said:
“One of our bandmates, he died. It was ’09 he died and he was one of the leads too.
“When that happened, we were in the middle of making a new album. And at that point we were like, ‘What do we do? Do we call it a day? Is there no more Boyzone? Is that it?’
“But every time we got together as a group, the four of us came together, it was very apparent that he was alive when we came together.
“Because that was our bubble. He’s still there. So we’ll always be five, regardless of visually what you see. He will always be there.”
Boyzone's @shanelynchlife has revealed how the sound of the band has changed since Stephen Gately passed away… #CBB pic.twitter.com/xFHOdbAJrA
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) January 8, 2018
Fans reacted to Lynch’s words on Twitter, with many calling for the singer to win the show.
They also thanked him for his honest and “respectful” portrayal of Gately’s life.
The guys always speak so respectful about each other ♡ We are so excited about this new album
— BoyzoneDeutschland (@BZDeutschland) January 9, 2018
Stephen will always be missed but always with you, you and the lads are doing him proud keep being yourself and do what you do best born musician and true gentleman
— sharon allard (@AllardShazx) January 8, 2018
Brought tears to my eyes, Steo would be so proud of all the Boyz you’ve done him amazingly proud xx
— Lynn Devine (@1980_lynn) January 8, 2018
Shane x pic.twitter.com/VJPG3OdqsV
— Amie the stable genius (@AmesRhysTaylor) January 8, 2018