Keith Duffy has revealed that his relationship with his son strengthened throughout lockdown, as after years on the road they were able to spend time together properly.
When the pandemic first struck, Keith was mid-tour with fellow Boyzlife member Brian McFadden. At the time, Keith then flew home to be with his wife Lisa, his 25-year-old son Jay and 21-year-old daughter Mia.
Speaking to the Irish Sun, Keith revealed how he would splurge on holidays with the kids in order to make memories as he would not be at home for the day-to-day school runs and bedtime stories.
“Taking a year and a half off is nothing I would have ever done. My family and I have a great relationship and I have a great relationship with my kids, so the four of us live together in Dublin.
“We thought we were getting home for a week or two or three, but when I got home they had a routine that I wasn’t involved with.
“So the first two or three weeks were kind of difficult to fit in, and my son was the man of the house and he had to kind of move over and let daddy in.
“It took a few weeks to adjust to each other being, around each other and I didn’t think I could get much closer to my kids. But my God the closeness that we have now is phenomenal to where we were, even though that was actually satisfactory, where we are now in a different world.
“It’s not that we’re a close father and children relationship, now we’re best friends which is amazing and I wouldn’t have ever got that if I hadn’t been stuck at home with them for 18 months.”
Sharing that being able to be close with his family was the ‘silver lining’ of lockdown, Keith continued, “I would only ever get home maybe every two or three nights, every two weeks, so I might catch Jay for dinner and Mia for breakfast. We would be like ships in the night.
“But for 18 months we had breakfast, lunch and dinner together and we played games together and got drunk together and I got to know the people that my children are.
“To be honest, every cloud has a silver lining and that was an absolute godsend to get that opportunity to find that closeness and that love with my family.
“The pandemic was relentless for a lot of people and for all those people who lost loved ones, they have our condolences. But for me, I was very, very lucky to have that quality time with my family which we will never forget and it’s strengthened our bond forever.”