Convincing Ronan Keating to come to Australia for new series All Together Now wasn’t hard. After marrying Australian TV producer Storm Uechtritz three years ago, he spends a lot of time here anyway.
“We try to get back here as much as we can,” he told TV WEEK while in Sydney filming the show. “I love Sydney. I love the people, the climate, the food, the coffee. It’s just a great excuse to come back.”
In fact, Ronan says he could “a hundred per cent” see himself living in Australia permanently. But he’s not ready to make the move quite yet. That’s because of his three children with first wife Yvonne Connolly – Jack, Missy and Ali.
“My older kids still live in Ireland,” Ronan explains. “My youngest girl is 13, so until she’s of an age where she can just jump on a plane to come and see us, we’ll be staying up north.”
Ronan’s youngest child – Cooper, his son with Storm – turned one in April.
“He’s a little Aussie boy,” Ronan says proudly. “He’s a little legend. The kids are all so good together as well. But we’re blessed with him – he’s a great sleeper, great eater and full of smiles. He walks into a room and charms everyone.”
Ronan, 41, is having a big year. In June, he and the three other members of Boyzone announced their upcoming album would be their last. The Irish boy band was formed in 1993 and has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide.
“It’s our farewell tour and album, 25 years later,” he says. “We’ve had a great run, and it’s time to go gracefully into the night, I think.”
He believes their final album is the best they’ve made.
“One of the songs written by Ed Sheeran is pretty powerful,” he adds.
The multi-talented Ronan is keeping up his acting too. Last year, Australian audiences got to see him in Love Child, where he played Joan’s (Jessica Marais) ex-fiancé Dr Lawrence Faber. He has another role coming up, in a movie set in Europe.
But before anything else, viewers will be seeing Ronan in All Together Now. It’s a singing show with a judging panel made up of 100 singers and other industry professionals.
Solo singers and groups perform in front of them, and if panel members are impressed, they stand up and join in. Ronan is the captain of the panel.
The show has been a hit in the UK, where former Spice Girl Geri Horner (née Halliwell) is the captain.
“I gave Geri a call and got her opinion on it,” Ronan says. “She loved it and had a lot of fun.”
Ronan and Julia Zemiro.
Ronan has plenty of experience as a judge. He was on The X Factor for five seasons and mentored two winners, Altiyan Childs and Marlisa Punzalan. He was also a judge on a season of The Voice.
Ronan says with All Together Now, there’s not as much pressure.
“We’re not looking for a global star or anything like that,” he explains. “It’s more laidback. We’re having a good time, enjoying ourselves, we’re getting up and dancing if we’re enjoying it that much.”
He says the songs are pub karaoke favourites, and people can’t help joining in.
“I think now more than ever we live in a time where we want to feel good. That’s what a show like All Together Now does for you.”
All Together Now airs Sunday, 7pm, on Channel Seven.
