Ronan Keating admits it was a “mistake” to continue Boyzone following the death of Stephen Gately.

The Love Me For A Reason group’s initial run lasted from 1993 to 1999, and the band reformed in 2007 for what was, according to the singer, “probably the best time in the band”.

But tragedy struck in 2009 when Gately died from a heart condition aged 33, with Keating admitting carrying on the band with Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham “never felt the same again”.

“For me that was the end of the band all together and we probably should have just called it a day then, but we thought the right thing to do was to carry on in Stephen’s memory,” he told the Magic radio special ‘When Harriet met Ronan – 30 years of Boyzone’, which airs Sunday (October 29) at 5.30pm GMT.

“For me a mistake. The band never felt the same again. It always felt like something was missing.”

Reflecting on how the band’s trajectory would have looked had Stephen not passed, he continued: “I would say we wouldn’t have broken up, but I think we probably would have navigated things differently. 

“We would have taken gaps, breaks, come back. Stephen and I enjoyed singing together I know that much so we would have done something. I think Boyzone would have continued.”

And although his bandmates still haven’t got over Stephen’s death, they’re thankful to have the music to remember him by.

“What makes me sad and hurt more than anything is he had so much living to do, and he had so much to enjoy,” added Ronan.

“I remember something that stays with me more than anything is Stephen really loved Disney and he was really excited about seeing ‘The Princess and the Frog’ and he never got to see it. The movie came out a couple of weeks after he passed away and I couldn’t watch the movie. I still haven’t been able to watch it to this day…

“None of us have gotten over it but at least we have the songs.”