He might have turned 40 during lockdown, but nothing could stop Brian McFadden having boozy birthday drinks with the boys.
And thanks to his Boyzlife bandmate Keith Duffy, proceedings got well underway at 10:30am at the milestone celebration earlier this month.
“We set up a zoom chat in the morning of his birthday and we all had a few beers,” laughs Keith. “You have to remember: it’s always 4pm somewhere.”
Thankfully, this morning session meant the duo - who were midway through their tour when quarantine measures started - kept to a pledge they made last year to go easy on their late night boozing.
“When I said I was cutting down the booze, I mean the long drinking sessions where you’re bingeing until 5 o’clock in the morning,” explains Keith.
“Those nights should be kept for people in their teens and 20s - not people in their 40s. In your 40s, you start at 10:30am!”
Brian’s fiance, teacher Danielle Parkinson, arranged surprise zoom chats with Brian's family all over the world, including Australia, and arranged for 12 pals including Keith to get his day off to a fun start.
Later that evening, while glugging from a glass of red, Brian proudly announced he had been sent 18 bottles of wine for his birthday, and had been “getting through them”.
Keith, 45, says the pair - a Boyzone and Westlife supergroup duo known as Boyzlife - will definitely celebrate in even wilder style when social distancing restrictions are reduced.
“Without a shadow of a doubt,” laughs Keith. “If you think Brian McFadden is going to let his 40th come and go without having a proper party, you’ve got another thing coming.
“We’ll probably have a boys’ golf trip away somewhere and we’ll go a little bit loo-lah.”
Boyzlife’s You Needed Me with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is out now, with proceeds donated to Age UK.
