Keating: Christmas will be hard without Stephen

Ronan Keating said the first Christmas following the death of Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately will be hard.

The singer told this week’s Closer magazine: “It’s going to be hard, because we always saw each other at some point over the Christmas holidays. It’s going to be tough not having him around.”

To help his fellow band mates deal with the loss of Stephen, who died in October aged 33, Ronan is planning a St Stephen's Day knees-up in his pal’s memory.

He said: “We normally meet up on St Stephen's Day. So we’re planning a little get-together that day. We keep each other strong by being around one another.”