I wouldn’t say I’ve grown up yet... one day I might

extraordinary pop career and race cars, which are my passion,” says Shane.

The Donaghmede-born star won his place in Boyzone, he reveals, despite the fact, “I couldn’t sing or dance. I’d got kicked out of school early and was working as a car mechanic for my dad, when this guy, a former classmate, knocked on my door. He said: ‘I want to start a band like Take That and you look just right for it’. It was a gamble and I went for it.”

Shane made waves from the start with his tattoos, body piercings and rebelliousness, which included, famously, an expletive-filled outburst in 1999 at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Dublin.

“I was the extreme guy who stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a squeaky-clean kind of band and there’s me with nose rings, tattoos and a bit of a swagger.

“I felt I had to play up to all that because that was my identity in the group. As I have dyslexia and find reading and writing difficult, I couldn’t read autocues and so didn’t get the chance to speak much. That was frustrating and I’d get angry sometimes, and that definitely got worse over the years as I struggled to cope with life on the road.”

By 2000, when lead singer Ronan had quit to pursue a solo career, and the band, after six chart topping singles and four No.1 albums, took a break, Shane describes himself as in a “dark place and lost”.

For two years he shunned the outside world and stayed at his home in Surrey. “I turned into a recluse because I didn’t know who I was. From the age of 18, I’d been totally controlled by the record company and suddenly it was over. I’d been in a fantasy world – I had a £1 million house, a Porsche and everything money could buy – but there was a void within me. For a while I tried to fill it with all the kind of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll things which are supposed to be cool,” he recalls.

“I dabbled in the occult and was dancing with the devil, and doing all sorts of negative things looking for escape from myself. I’d lost respect for myself. I have no regrets because going through that made me the man I am today, and it was just the price I paid for that fame.

“I really admire Zayn Malik, who quit One Direction [in 2015]. He was brave enough to take control of his life and recognise being on the ‘train’ was killing him, and bail out. I didn’t and ran myself into the ground in the end.”

Following a short-lived marriage to Eternal singer Easther Bennett in the late Nineties, Shane is now happily married to former backing singer Sheena White – the couple have two daughters, Billie Rae, eight and Marley Mae, four.

He says his dark days are a distant memory. “I was very immature and selfish during that time, but I worked my way through that, found my Christian faith and understand the world and myself nowadays.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve grown up yet, but who knows, one day I might! I’ve never regarded myself as a celebrity. I’m just a guy who loves racing cars, working to look after my family, and every now and then I’m in a band called Boyzone.

“Experiencing that every so often is great, but when it finishes, I step back into being a normal guy again.”