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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Lucy Domachowski

Shane Lynch quits Boyzone and fame but admits bandmates 'may not know' about his exit

Boyzone's Shane Lynch has sensationally quit the group without informing his bandmates.

The Irish singer has announced he’s quit showbiz, and the band, for good.

The former boyband member, 56, dropped the bombshell news but insisted there’s no bad blood between him and members Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Ronan Keating because of his decision.

The Dubliner has left fans on no uncertain terms, explaining his decision frankly: “I won’t be performing with them again.”

He went on: “They might not know exactly. I haven’t gone to them saying, ‘Boys, I’m not coming back to the band.’ I’ve just been very open that I’m out of the industry – music, TV and everything.”

“It’s not like I got a phone call to ask, ‘What are you doing that for?’ We’d no plans to do anything anyway,” he said.

“They can absolutely crack on without me. I love the boys, so I’ll watch them. Don’t be gutted.”

Shane Lynch has announced he's quit showbiz for good (Redferns)
Boyzone's Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately (Getty Images)

He put to bed rumours he might re-join the Irish boyband in the future when he made the revelation during his final episode of Pilgrimage on BBC Two, in which celebrities with differing faiths and beliefs tackle a modern day Catholic pilgrimage.

The show saw him and six other celebrities undertake a trek across northern Portugal to Fatima.

He said he was “done” with the “repetitive lifestyle”.

“I think for me there is certain head spaces in life we all need to transition to. You can’t just become an adult and be the same adult for the rest of your life,” he said.

“My life for 30 years had been one particular Shane Lynch from Boyzone, and I’m done with that. Everything I’ve done up to this last TV show was the same repetitive lifestyle.

“I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s as simple as that.”

Boy band Boyzone in 1995 (Getty Images)
Shane said he was “done” with the “repetitive lifestyle” (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Warner Music)

Ahead of the show airing, the singer also confessed he was "very" interested in "satanic stuff" before becoming a Pentecostal born-again Christian.

He explained his own relationship with his religion, saying: “I’m a born-again Christian. It’s a lifestyle, it’s not a religion at all.

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

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

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