'I needed the light': Boyzone's Shane Lynch on becoming a born-again Christian

The 46-year-old said he was "very interested in satanic stuff for a long period" but he has since developed a "direct relationship with God"

BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Shane Lynch is evicted during the 2018 Celebrity Big Brother Final at Elstree Studios on February 2, 2018 in Borehamwood, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Shane Lynch has opened up about his decision to “have a direct relationship with God” after being on “the dark side”.

The Irish singer and former Boyzone member, 46, features in a new show on BBC Two, in which celebrities with differing faiths and beliefs tackle a modern day Catholic pilgrimage.

Ahead of Pilgrimage airing, Lynch, who is a Pentecostal born-again Christian, described his relationship with religion as "a lifestyle".

Shane Lynch is joined on the pilgrimage by six other celebrities. Picture: BBC/CTVC/PA Wire

"It’s not a religion at all," he said.

“I was born and raised a Catholic, but I was baptised as a child. Being born again is the symbolism of baptism.

“As an adult, I made the choice to be baptised. And I decided to have a direct relationship with God.” 

In the programme, which begins on Good Friday at 9pm, Lynch will be joined on the pilgrimage by actress Su Pollard, who was raised Church of England, Jewish actress Rita Simons, reality TV star Vicky Pattison, who is agnostic, maths teacher and TV personality Bobby Seagull who is a practising Catholic, Nabil Abdulrashid, a comedian and practising Muslim, and Paralympian Millie Knight who is non-practising Church of England.

Speaking about why he decided to change religions, Lynch said: “I changed religion and I changed lifestyle. I changed everything because of my behaviour.

“I was on the dark side, and I was very interested in satanic stuff for a long period of my life.

“I knew and understood the spirits as such (and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit), the spirits of the occult and witchcraft, which I know is a dark and horrible world.

“So, knowing the dark, I decided I needed the light. That was the symbolism and I found him.” 

Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch of Boyzone arriving at the Jingle Bell Ball at the O2 Arena in 2008

Lynch also said he feels his life has been enhanced by his religion, adding: “It’s given me life, more than enhancement. It’s unbelievable.

“We are the only ones who can decide. It’s our decision to either want God or not. God is not a bully. He doesn’t come in and say ‘right, I’m in your life now’.

“You have to decide that you want to know what that world is. Experience that love and prosperity and he leaves you to it.

“And if you want to go to Mass on Sunday, and that’s it, then that’s your relationship with God.

“If you want to sit with God all day long in your car, listening to the radio, I look at it as mental food. So it’s what feeds my mind.

“What I watch, what I listen to, what I digest, it’s actually mental food instead of mental health.” 

Lynch and the six other celebrities travel by foot, road and train as they follow Portugal’s Northern Way in the new series.

Their final destination is the Sanctuary in the city of Fatima, where in 1917, three local children claimed they saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

• Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal, will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on April 7 at 9pm