No.1 for Interviews - Shane Lynch
Shane Lynch

The member of 1990s boy band Boyzone tells Katie McKenna about their long-awaited reunion and how all those tensions are water under the bridge now they are back on the road.

Like their fans, Boyzone are all grown-up. It has been almost 10 years since the chart-topping Irish band split – a decision that left thousands of fans heartbroken. Like so many other bands from the 1990s – Spice Girls and Take That to name but two – they are now back together and preparing for their comeback tour. Shane very kindly took time out of rehearsals for a quick chat about that fateful decision to call it a day and why they’ve decided to give it another go. Having spent the last few years as a successful race car driver, taking part in reality TV shows such as The Games and Celebrity Love Island and getting married to wife Sheena White, we hear how finding God has changed his life and has helped him put his demons behind him.

They may no longer be the ‘Boyz’ they once were but they’re mighty glad to be back in the ‘Zone’ as Shane reveals...

Now you’re back together as a band, is it just like before?
Surprisingly enough it is. We all thought that it would be different due to our personalities and that during the past few years we’ve not been together but it really hasn’t. You kind of step straight back into the enjoyable times that we had as friends and the memories and the silly little carry on that we used to have and our camaraderie type language. That’s been fantastic and a really nice feeling to slip back in and there’s no obstacles and no awkwardness. We’re just the same as we ever were except far better in terms of our mental state of mind.

And are all the tensions you had before you broke up water under the bridge now?
I think that the tensions we had were really all press related more than anything else. We’ve now had moments where we all put our cards on the table and said how we felt about certain situations and about things in the past. It was all cleared up in a
civilised manner and with a realisation that press being press, it was all blown out of proportion and nobody said what was claimed to have been said. It was nice to sit down and shoot it out and sort it out.

Towards the end of Boyzone, it was well publicised that there was quite a lot of drinking involved. Was this just a way of coping?
I can only speak for myself on that matter, and I know for myself I was fairly confused about what life was meant to be and what I was meant to enjoy. All I knew was burning the candle at both ends and the tiredness, the monotony. The only pick-me-ups we had were the concerts and the gigs. But the moment we came off stage, I was still back in that confusing time as Shane Lynch and I didn’t know who I was. And I guess in that respect it was a journey that I went through and it’s nice to be out the other side.

What made you want to go ahead with the reunion?
I think back in the day, in the 1990s, I rebelled against what it was to be in a boy band. I thought I needed to be credible in this world that we live in. I thought I needed more in life. I was a confused young man. As I’ve gone on in age, I’ve realised that the best days of my life were Boyzone. The opportunities that it gave me were just phenomenal and it was very quickly learned that that’s one of the most incredible things that could happen to anybody. And to get an opportunity to go back to that for a second time and to enjoy it with a different headspace was a no-brainer for me.

Did the success of other boy band’s reunions, such as Take That’s, influence your decision to reform Boyzone?
To say they’re not one of the reasons would be lie because of course they are. They’re a brilliant band and when we got together in the 1990s we wanted to be like Take That. In 2008 we’re getting together because most of us went to see the Take That show and thought it was amazing and would love to do it again.

Did you all keep in touch after you broke up?
I think for the first two or three years, we were all very much separate entities in life and everyone really just needed their own headspace. I know three years seems like a long time but it wasn’t in the phenomenal world that we live in. The first
get together after the break up was when I did The Games and all the boys came down for that and to support me. That was a wonderful moment for me.

You have done a few reality TV shows, is that something that you enjoy doing?
To be honest yes, I have enjoyed all the shows I’ve done. I’m an opportunist – I call myself ‘the chancer’ really. I grew up a fairly average kid although I did have a dyslexia problem and couldn’t read or write. I survived through school and became a car mechanic and then ended up in one of the biggest bands in the world through chance. The kind of opportunities, such as The Games or Celebrity Love Island, were things that I never dreamt of in my life because I never had aspirations to be famous or on telly or anything like that. When I get these opportunities I take them because I’m still shocked myself that I can get on television because I came from a humble background, if you want to call it that. I’m glad of all opportunities.

Do you think your status as a celebrity hasn’t sunk in yet?
I think that once upon a time, it sank in the wrong way with arrogance. To come out the other side of that, I now understand my position but at no point do I think that I deserve it or that I worked hard for it. I stay quite grounded and so when TV shows come up, I’m always surprised and I think ‘Wow they want me? I’d love to do it!’ And that’s how I kind of live my life.

Do you still feel the same why about Celebrity Love Island even though you walked after five weeks?
Of course I do. It was a big challenge and I guess you have to look at yourself and see if you are mentally able enough. Personally, I was able but the reason I left was more to do with the fact that I went there to find love, and I kind of did but it was at home – it was something that I wanted to come home and fight for. All the opportunities that I was presented with on the show, they were lovely girls but none ticked all the boxes and for me it was a simple case of absence and heart and growing fonder.

Sophie Anderton had a particularly tough time and turned to you. Why do you think that was?
Yes she did have the hardest time but that was for many other reasons than what the TV decided to show. She is a troubled individual and there’s reasons for that that they decided not to show. She had her problems as a child, which I found out through a few in depth conversations with her. She was on morphine for three or four years of her early teen life due to an accident. So she depended on something very early in life, which continued when she came off prescribed drugs. She’s a needy person basically. She needs a lot of help and I think that’s why she was interested in me because I gave her my time and understanding.


You are also a Born Again Christian. How has finding faith changed your life?
I became closer to God because of stuff I went through in life and had no answers. Once upon a time was anti-God and dabbled a lot in the occult and knocked on those doors. That was an evil route that I took and I became very depressed and an angry, violent guy so I asked God for help and he answered me. I’m not saying it’s right for everybody but all the money I’ve had in my days, Porsches, Ferraris, private jets, champagne you name it, not one bit of that made me as happy as feeling the love of the Lord. It’s something I honour because God sorted out my life.

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