The mother of Jack Keating’s daughter has claimed she didn’t know he came from a famous family.
The 24-year-old, who is the eldest son of Boyzone star Ronan Keating and Irish model Yvonne Connolly, shocked fans earlier this year when he announced the birth of his first child Maya.
It was later revealed that Jack welcomed Maya with artist Keely Iqbal, who found out she was pregnant while he was on Love Island last summer.
While Keely and Jack aren’t in a relationship, they are continuing to co-parent their daughter.
During a new interview with Evoke, 27-year-old Keely claimed she “had no idea who Jack was” before they met.
She said: “I had no idea who Jack was, to be honest, and not in a rude way, but I didn’t know who Ronan Keating was either but I think that’s a generation thing.
“My parents would know him but he wasn’t a part of my childhood and my mum didn’t really listen to Boyzone either so I wasn’t exposed to who they were.”
“I must have got about halfway through my pregnancy before I realised the gravity of the situation and who they were,” she explained.
“I didn’t understand who they were until I walked in from work one day and saw Ronan on The One Show. I looked at my dad and said ‘is that Jack’s dad? He still works? People know him?’
“My dad just looked at me like I was crazy… I knew Ronan was in a band in the 90s, but I thought that was a million years ago. I don’t mean that in a rude way at all, I just genuinely didn’t know.
“It’d be the same if I walked past a footballer, I’m not big on football so would walk past oblivious.”
Speaking about the media attention she’s received since welcoming a daughter with Jack, Keely said: “It was a little bit daunting at first. I think my anxiety was a bit funny with it all but it was okay.
“There were only ever nice things said about me, so there was no problem. It was a weird experience [getting media attention] and Jack’s probably used to it from all his life but I grew up in a normal town in a normal house so it was a bit life-changing.”
Keely’s latest comments come after she slammed Jack and his family in a furious rant after he went public with his new girlfriend Sophie Foard in September.
Taking to her Instagram Stories at the time, she claimed he introduced Maya to Sophie “without her permission”.
Sharing a photo of Jack and Sophie at the premiere of A Haunting in Venice, Keely alleged: “I was introduced to this girl the other day and not told who she was.”
“Jack’s entire family let my baby around this complete stranger without my permission after me and Jack agreed to not introduce partners to her early. My trust has been broken and I have been disrespected.”
“Just so you all know, I did that entire pregnancy by myself without a penny or any help from Jack,” Keely continued to claim.
“The useless p***k just turned up on the day of labour and his family have been protecting him ever since.”
“And now my baby’s being introduced to random women he’s dated for two weeks,” she claimed. You were in Ibiza a few weeks ago mate s**gging everyone.”
Shifting her attention to Jack’s dad Ronan and step-mum Storm, Keely alleged: “@rokeating @stormykeating Letting this girl in your home while I was coming round with Maya?? Without asking if I’m okay with that?? Are you weird??”
Goss.ie reached out to Jack’s representatives for comment at the time, but didn’t hear back.
