‘Why are we doing it?’: The real reason Ronan Keating decided to reform Boyzone

Ronan Keating was, in musical terms, just a baby when he joined Irish group Boyzone at the tender age of 16. Looking back, The Voice coach says he was unprepared for the “crazy” life of pop stardom.

“We were thrown to the wolves,” Ronan tells TV WEEK. “There was nobody there, other than my parents, to protect us and to guide us. Nobody told us what to say in interviews.

“We were on the road, travelling around the world and we were very lucky to travel in style. But I was supposed to be climbing trees and cycling my bike at 16 years of age! And there I was, standing on stages around the world singing songs. It was mad.”

Next year, the ‘Life is a Rollercoaster’ singer turns 50, and he’s somewhat in “shock” about the looming milestone. His fellow The Voice coach Kate Miller-Heidke, however, was able to boost his spirits.

“I said, ‘I still feel 18,’” Ronan tells us. “And she goes, ‘Well, you know, famous people, when they’re at their peak, their age freezes. There’s a mental thing that you latch on to, and you stay that age.’

“She said it’s a scientific thing. And it makes total sense because I’m still in a band and still touring and doing all the things I was doing at 18.”

That said, the march of time has given Ronan a large family. He is now a father of five, with three children – Jack, Missy and Ali – with his ex-wife, Yvonne Connolly, and two children – Cooper and Coco – with Australian wife Storm. He’s also a grandfather – son Jack’s daughter, Maya, was born in 2023. 

“Nobody’s allowed to use the word ‘grand’,” Ronan insists. “Storm and I are Nanna and Papa. There’s no grand in it.”

Ronan is back on The Voice’s coaching panel this year after returning in 2025 following a nine-year absence. One of the big reasons he loves the Aussie version of the reality TV show is the “hunger” he sees from the singers.   

“When they make a decision that this is what they want to do, there’s nothing that’s going to get in their way,” he says. “The hunger and the graft and the commitment – that is so valuable. You can’t teach that.

“As a parent of five kids, I see in my different children that some are grafters and some aren’t. Some are lazy and some aren’t.”

The hunger to win is just as present among the coaches, with Ronan, Melanie C, Richard Marx and Kate using any edge they can to woo singers to their team.

Ronan jokingly plays on the fact he’s “half-Australian” due to his marriage to Storm and their children, who have Australian passports. He feels a specific connection to Sydney.

“I come here, even in tough times, and I always feel like there’s an arm around me when I’m in Sydney,” he says. “And so I really lean on that.”

And some friendships among the coaches run deep. Ronan and Spice Girl Melanie C, who recently married Australian model Chris Dingwall, have known each other since their days on the road.

“I’ve worked with four of the girls [in the Spice Girls],” he says. “Victoria [Beckham] is the only one I haven’t worked with.”

Then there is ‘Hazard’ singer Richard, who Ronan says is “the biggest name-dropper on the planet”. “I have a name-drop jar this year and it’s been filled twice,” Ronan says with a laugh.

But while there is “a sort of camaraderie” among the coaches, make no mistake, none of them want to “lay down and get beaten”, as Ronan says. He’s still kicking himself for having – and then losing – the eventual winner of last year’s The Voice, Alyssa Delpopolo.

She was hauled out of the audience and joined Team Ronan, but was eliminated in the Battles round, only to be snapped up by fellow coach Kate.

“I was sorry I sent Alyssa home, but thank God Kate picked her up, because I didn’t see enough in those performances to keep her on,” Ronan says. “I had Cle [Morgan], who I took to the final, who I believed was a winner.”

This year Ronan has two singers on his team he believes “have what it takes” to win The Voice and give Team Ronan bragging rights for the first time.

Away from The Voice, Ronan reunited with Boyzone for two shows at London’s Emirates Stadium in June, playing to tens of thousands of long-term fans each night. It was, Ronan says, the “final piece of the puzzle” for the ’90s boy band.

“Too many bands milk the s–t out of [their success],” he says. “Time has moved on. And we did such a great thing, but why are we revisiting it? Never go back to a lit firework.

“But I knew that the right thing to do was one last hurrah and to go out on a high.”

The bond between Boyzone members is unmistakable and Ronan says it feels to him like “no time has passed when we’re together”. 

After years of performing, he believes one of the most important skills that young singers need to learn is the ability to control their nerves.

“People get overwhelmed, their heart starts to beat out of their chest, and they go pitchy and it ruins their performance,” he says. “We have to try to help them with their nerves.”

Which begs the question: does Ronan get nervous?

“No. I get nervous when I’m standing on the first tee at St Andrews [golf course] and there might be two or three people watching me,” he admits.

“With a microphone in my hand, no, that bit’s easy!”

The Voice airs on Monday and Tuesday, 7.30pm on Channel Seven and 7Plus.