Shane Lynch has opened up about Stephen Gately being put under pressure to come out as gay.
When chatting to fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant India Willoughby, she asked if Shane’s Boyzone bandmate was always openly gay.
“No he wasn’t,” Shane said.
“Obviously me and the boys always knew Steo was gay. It wasn’t a question because his boyfriends used to come on the road with us. I think in the early 90s when we came to the UK, being in a boyband and being gay… nobody had come out. It was just not the thing to do. It would have been management and stuff, it was all swept under the carpet.”
“There’s an understanding amongst celebrities, or whatever you want to call it, but he was meant to be dating Baby Spice and all that.”
Shane explained that Stephen was then put under pressure to reveal his sexuality.
“What happened was, we were on tour and he got a phone-call to say that the press was going to run with a story on him. He was distraught. They said to him ‘Look, you can tell your story, or we’re going to print our story.’ It nearly destroyed him. It really nearly destroyed him.”
He added that when Stephen did come out, he felt a huge relief and received lots of support.
“He came out and he couldn’t believe it himself, the weight off his shoulder, the lie had left. It was gone. The support he got from our fans – they were the best. From that point, he just flourished. He had always been that reserved… He grew into this beaming man of joy. The release. He turned into just the most joyful person.”
Stephen sadly passed away in 2009, at just 33 years old. Shane went on to pay a heartwarming tribute to his friend calling him ‘an amazing guy’.
“Steo was always our brother. Of course it was never a problem for us boys. We took great care of him for life, y’know. He was older than I, but he was my little brother. I always had Steo under me wing. He was a joy of life. He really was. Amazing, amazing guy. I have a strong place in my heart for him.”
.@shanelynchlife gives an insight into what it’s like to come out as a member of a boyband… #CBB pic.twitter.com/9MJPuXEMsI
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) January 11, 2018