Keith Duffy’s mum has revealed that she was forced to leave her home in Dublin at the height of Boyzone’s fame.
Patricia Duffy has told how Boyzone fans would show up at their family home back in 1993, and admitted that it “got out of hand”.
“I moved out of Dublin because of the fans. They pulled hair out of my dog. They took the key and the mat out of my porch,” she told the Irish Mirror.
“Of course they thought it was Keith’s dog, and it was. Poor old Socks would be sitting on the doorstep delighted to see these people and they’d be petting him but pulling out his hair at the same time.”
After Keith said, “It wasn’t out of badness they just wanted a little piece of me,” his mum replied, “It did get out of hand.”
“There was one particular day I opened the door to a Japanese man and his daughter and she had asked to visit Boyzone for her 18th birthday and he brought her all the way from Japan.
“I’d have to bring them in for a cup of tea and a biscuit.”
Keith’s mum also revealed that he put the fans to work while she was away on holiday.
“He had the fans in washing the dishes when I was on holidays, making him cheesecake too.
“The very first year he was in Boyzone it was his birthday and all these girls came with presents I said to myself ‘I can’t take the presents and tell them to go’ and then Keith arrived home and the gang of girls were thrilled,” she said.
Patricia also told how Keith’s late bandmate Stephen Gately was followed by fans.
“Stephen’s Mam Margaret was worse, she used to let the fans up to his bedroom and they used to go home with boxer shorts in their bags,” she added.
The news comes as Boyzone are set to reunite and embark on a tour to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
