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Louis Walsh recalls the heartbreaking moment he found out about Stephen Gately’s death

Louis Walsh has recalled the heartbreaking moment he found out about Stephen Gately’s death.

The Boyzone star passed away on October 10, 2009 at the age of 33, and a post mortem later revealed that he died of sudden arrhythmia death syndrome.

The pop star died at his home in Mallorca, where he was holidaying with his partner Andy Cowles.

Andy Cowles and Stephen Gately | VIPIRELAND.COM

Louis was managing the band at the time, and still gets choked up talking about Stephen’s untimely passing.

Speaking on Doireann Garrihy’s The Laughs of your Life podcast, the 70-year-old said: “I remember one Saturday night after X Factor, driving along through Wembley…”

“I was on a bit of a high, we had a great show. I got a text on my phone…. He said, ‘Is it true about Stephen?’

“I didn’t know what he was even talking about. I had no idea. So I said, ‘Stephen who?’, and then he said, ‘Stephen Gately. He’s dead.'”

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Getting emotional, Louis continued: “I didn’t… God…”

“It’s when I think about it now, I was in shock at the time and I didn’t start crying or anything.”

“But it’s only now when you think about it, what happened. He was gone so young. He was such a great kid, he was so grateful.”

“And I kind of blocked it all out of my mind if you know what I mean. The fact that he went so early and so young and we miss him so much.”

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Remembering how popular Stephen was in the band, the Mayo native said: “He was brilliant and he was grateful and he was talented and he ticked all the boxes.”

“I never heard hysteria for anybody like he got in the early days. He was like the Justin Bieber of the time.

“I remember doing gigs up in Tallaght and places in Dublin and girls being carried out, in stretchers and ambulances and all that.”

“You don’t see that anymore. There was so many people there.”

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Louis’ comments come after Ronan Keating recently admitted Boyzone should have disbanded long before they parted ways in 2019, as it “never felt right” without Stephen.

Ronan, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, and Shane Lynch continued performing as a foursome after Stephen died in 2009, but the band was never the same again.

Speaking on Newstalk last week, Ronan was asked if fans can expect a Boyzone reunion in the future, and he replied: “No, no, we’re done.”

“We had 25 years great years. For me it finished when Stephen died and that probably was the end of the band as we knew it.”

Picture: G. McDonnell / VIPIRELAND.COM

“We probably should’ve walked away. We thought the right thing was to keep it going in Steo’s memory but it never felt right after that ever again,” Ronan confessed.

“The magic was gone. The spark was gone. I fought for it back, I couldn’t get it so Boyzone ended then.”

“We went out on a high in 2019 with a fabulous world tour. We played countries we’d never been to the first time around, ever.”

“It’s done now. I have a good relationship with the boys and I want to keep it that way. I think if we tried to flog it again and come back again, it would tarnish whatever was left in my mind,” he added.

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