RONAN KEATING

LOUIS was the first manager of Boyzone, putting the group together and plotting their path to success. He was seemingly close to the band members and it looked like the Boyz and Louis had parted on good terms after a decade together. Ronan Keating also appeared on The X Factor to help Louis pick his acts at Judges Houses in 2009. But it appears things soured badly in the following years. In an interview with Q Magazine in 2012, Louis branded Ronan ‘talentless and spoiled’. ‘His head got turned by having nice hotels and chauffeur-driven cars, and he thought he could write songs,’ he blasted. ‘If you’re Ronan Keating, who was working in a shoe shop when I discovered him, but end up thinking you’re George Michael, then you need to be stopped.’ Revealing the pair were no longer on good terms, Louis told The Times that Ronan was a ‘little manufactured pop star who actually believed his own publicity’.

In a later interview with the RTÉ Guide, Louis branded Keating ‘a diva’ and after keeping his counsel for some time, Ronan finally broke his silence on Magic FM.

He said of Louis: ‘He was very important to me as a mentor and I’m grateful for the opportunities he gave me, because I wouldn’t be here without them.

‘But there’s only so much you can give back and be so grateful, and for that not to be appreciated or respected. Really he should just move on and be happy and grateful for what he’s achieved – he’s had a great career,’ before landing a punch of his own. ‘It’s no life to be bitter and talking negatively about people – it festers in your soul.’

It seems this is a friendship that won’t be repaired as in 2022 on Angela Scanlon’s Ask Me Anything Louis revealed that he’s still ‘not in Ronan Keating’s fan club’.