Louis Walsh quips over Stephen Gately ‘front page’ in chilling Boyzone documentary trailer-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

Louis Walsh has been filmed talking about late Boyzone singer Stephen Gately ‘getting the front page’ after the singer was forced to come out as gay.

Boyzone: No Matter What, set to air on Sky Documentaries and NOW next month, delves behind the scenes into the makings of one of the biggest boybands of all time.

In a new trailer, the members of the band – Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham – open up about what it was like to soar to global stardom, recalling the highs and the devastating lows.

The three-part documentary also features their estranged former manager Louis, who smiles at the camera as he claims that he orchestrated the widespread publicity that Boyzone received at the height of their fame.

In the trailer, Ronan, 47, looks back at the genesis of Boyzone, stating: ‘We were a bunch of kids put together. We weren’t perfect, we weren’t polished.’

Then, in his own interview, Louis, 72, makes the first of his remarks, taking a sip from a teacup before stating: ‘I prefer ordinary people, because they work harder. And they do whatever you want at the start.’

Louis says in the documentary: ‘They believed their own publicity. They forgot I wrote it’ (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Irish boy band Boyzone soared to fame after they were formed in 1993(Picture: Tim Roney/Getty Images)

The group disbanded in 2000 before reuniting in 2007 (Picture: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)

Recollecting what it was like to work with Louis in the early days of their careers, Shane, 48, explains that their ex-manager ‘promised us the sun, moon and stars.’

Louis then quips: ‘They believed their own publicity. They forgot I wrote it,’ as he laughs.

In 2009, Stephen died at the age of 33, with it later being confirmed that he died from acute pulmonary oedema, a condition that causes a build-up of fluid in the lungs.

Two decades before his death, Stephen came out as gay after it was claimed that he was given an ultimatum from the press about announcing his sexuality publicly.

Stephen, pictured here performing in June 2009, died in October that year aged 33 (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)

Stephen and his partner Andrew Cowles entered into a civil partnership in 2006 (Picture: Phillip Massey/FilmMagic)

In the documentary trailer, Louis says: ‘Stephen was living the dream. But he had a big secret.’

After Keith, 50, decries the treatment that Stephen received from the newspaper as ‘absolutely scandalous’, Louis then remarks: ‘He got the front page,’ before smiling.

In 2018, Shane said on Celebrity Big Brother that Boyzone had been on tour in Germany when they received a phone call ‘to say the press were going to run with a story on him’.

‘He was distraught. They said to him, look you can tell your story or we’re going to print our story. It nearly destroyed him,’ he said at the time.

Boyzone members Keith, Ronan, Shane and Mikey seen performing together during The Final Five tour in October 2019 (Picture: Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

‘Then he did, he came out and he couldn’t believe it himself, the weight off his shoulder, the lie has now gone. The support he got from our fans, they were the best.’

Later in the documentary trailer, Mikey, 52, explains how he wanted to ditch the limelight, emphasising how he was desperate to ‘get away from that toxic environment’.

Ronan tearfully remembers finding out that Stephen had died, as footage is shown of the musicians carrying their late friend’s coffin at his funeral.

The trailer then ends with Ronan saying: ‘I made choices that I’m not proud of. After 30 years, I think now is the time to talk about it.’

Boyzone: No Matter What airs on Sunday February 2 on Sky Documentaries and NOW.

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