STEPHEN'S NEW BEGINNING

A year ago, 23 year old popstar heartthrob, STEPHEN GATELY'S career could have been finished. The first member of a Boy band to come out as gay, it was a major risk to take and no-one knew how fans of Stephen and his band, Boyzone, would react to his statement.

However, the risk has paid off and now, a year later, and after being named Irish Personality of the Year, Hero of 1999 (at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party) and, of course, Most Outstanding Personality at our very own BIG BUZZ/COCA COLA AWARDS FOR IRISH ENTERTAINMENT , both Stephen and Boyzone's popularity have never been greater. Stephen, now 24, is now ready to take another big step, with the launch of his debut solo single, A New Beginning at the end of this month. Kirsten McAlipine talks exclusively to the young star about his life and career - and how his greatest wish is to adopt some children of his own.....

Stephen bounces into his plush suite at London's Metropolitan Hotel, looking pretty cheerful for someone who not only managed to miss their flight but also managed to suffer some hold-ups on the flight he was on, as well!! Still, we can't really complain (particularly since we had a heart-stopping dash to the airport and narrowly missed our flight as well!) it gave us time to sample the drinks in ultra-chic celeb bar, the Met, which is attached to the glamorous hotel! It's understandable that he's excited, though. Tonight there will be an album playback party for Stephen's debut solo album (also called A New Beginning) which is due for release in June, at swanky health club, The Sanctuary, in London and Stephen's not only excited about letting people hear the album, but also because it'll give him a chance to catch up with his Boyzone pals. "I'm really excited because no-one has heard the album yet and everybody's coming down tonight - everybody that I know in the business, who has worked with us and with me," he says. "Ronan also said that he's dropping down, Keith said that he'll stop by and Shane - I think Mikey's in Ireland, but everybody else is going to be in town..... So, we'll be able to have a drink, get a session going - it's been a while ...." (As it turned out of course, a great deal of press attention was given to the fact that Mikey, whose own single is due to hit the streets the week after Stephen's DID NOT appear at the party,- particularly since Ronan, whose own solo debut album is due in July turned out to show support for his band mate's project.

Boyzone are, of course, in the middle of a break which has enable the members to work on their own separate projects. This has seen Ronan, Mikey and Stephen turn their hand to recording their own solo albums, while Keith has turned his hand to TV presenting with a slot on the Saturday morning show "Fully Booked" and Shane has concentrated on his favourite past time of racing cars. Stephen tells me, though, that the lands all stay in touch as much as possible: "We spend a lot of time on the phone," he says. "At least once a week and every time we're in London, we'll meet up and go for dinner or out for a few drinks....."

Some people could think, though, that the title of Stephen's new single could signify that he's thinking of making a permanent break from the band. "No, I don't think people will think of that in that way," he argues. "I think that people will look at it as a new beginning for myself and also as a new beginning for the Millennium . It could mean something to everyone- whether they be starting a new job, a new life, going abroad - it symbolises lots of thing .." Read into that what you will, gossip mongers!.....

With Mikey's single, "You're my angle" due out the following week, there's inevitably been talk or rivalry between the two. - a situation obviously not helped by Mikey's absence from the album launch party. However, Stephen is adamant that there is no rivalry between the pair. "It's just record company politics, really, " he insists. "With us, it's cool if our singles are released on the same day or the week before or after the other one. The press, of course, have picked up on it and they've started this Mikey -v- Stephen thing, but, at the end of the day, we're just releasing our songs and they happen to be around the same time. It's not a problem...."

Thankfully, though, none of the boys' albums will be released at the same time to give the tabloids more ammunition to concoct more rivalry rumours. Stephen's A New Beginning will be the first to hit the streets in June and he's looking forward to the release "I'm really, really pleased with it, " he enthuses. "It's quite pop, because I love poop music and anything that's in the charts and is quite poppy. Pop music is definitely one of my favourites and I kinda stuck to that, but it does have a little bit of an edge though - I don't think A New Beginning is what people are gonna have expected from me. I think people will have expected me to come out with an album of ballads - which I haven't and the first single will prove that...."

R n B is also another great love of Stephen's and indeed, there are a few R n B influenced tracks on the album "I love R n B but nothing too heavy," he says "I like light R n B and there's a couple of R n B tracks on the album, Nothing majorly heavy though ......." He admits to loving Mel C's collaboration with Lisa Left Eye Lope from TLC "Never be the same Again"" "I thought that was a really cool track" he says. "Very fresh and very new....." Would he like to collaborate with any R n B stars himself, the, in the future? "There are lots of people I'd like to collaborate with" he admits. "but it's very difficult to organise, especially if you're doing it for an album, because you have to go through different record companies and it can take a long time. I was hoping to do something with Emma from the Spice Girls, but that didn't go ahead. I'd love to do something with Madonna - but we're talking about a superstar there! She's somebody who doesn't need to do anything with anybody. Who know, though?...."

Who knows, indeed? For just little over a year ago, things could have looked very different for Stephen Gately.... When he "came out" last year (he can even remember the exact date - June 16), he admits that he had no idea how it would be received: "Yeah, it was made," he admits "I didn't know which way it was gonna go, how well it was gonna be accepted or whether I was going to get positive or negative press. And being six years in a boy band made it difficult as well - but there was no way that I would have knocked and opportunity like that when I was 17 by say "Oh, by the way - I'm gay!" ... Of course, it's difficult enough for someone to come out to their family, but coming out to the world! And I mean literally! it was in the New York Post! At the end of the day, though, I'm please and I'm very, very happy that I did it. I didn't lose any fans - we gained fans, probably ....... It was pretty mad all the interest, though - I'm just this lad from Sheriff Street in Dublin - it's amazing that people could have that much interest....."

However, the interest in Stephen has been more of the admiring kind than just curiosity about the "gay one" in Boyzone, which is why he picked up the prestigious BIG BUZZ AWARD for "Most Outstanding Personality" at our recent awards: " thought it was brilliant, really cool," he enthuses. "I was very, very pleased - especially because it was from the North. I think it's beautiful up there and I love going shopping in Belfast. We've got a lot of fans up there and the accent is great. There's plenty of good things up there and every time we're asked what Northern Ireland's like, we're like "It's one of the nicest places you could go to ...."

The Boyzone lads giggled here quite a bit when they first started off and Stephen can remember it well, although he admits that the band played some "pretty dodgy places...." Indeed, it seems that the boys had it rough for about a year, touring around, all cooped up together in a white transit van: "I got a glass smashed in my chest once, when I was on stage," Stephen admits "We were spat at, as well. We'd be doing this gig at a nightclub and there'd be couples there, guys with their girlfriends and the girls would be running up to the front of the stage, so the guys would get jealous.... Once, about six years ago, we were at this club and Keith had to pick me up and basically carry me off stage! It was scary, but it was funny at the same time! I wanted to get down and go back, but he just carried me off - he was trying to protect me....." Indeed, Keith seems to have been like a "big brother" to Stephen in the early days of the band. "Keith always looked out for me" he admits. "If I had a weird feeling - because I sometimes get weird feelings in my bedroom at night in hotels - I'd ask if I could crash with him and we'd sit up and have a laugh, watching TV and having a few beers.... He can be a big child, though, himself, and sometimes you have to look out for him! It's sometimes like "you've had enough - go home" He's been very good to me, though. He's just got that Fully Booked show and he's presenting that, so I'm going to go up and surprise him on his first show....."

The one thing that really strikes you about Stephen Gately is how caring he is. He has a child-like side to his nature (he's a huge Disney fan, which is what inspired him to record the song "Shooting Star" for "Hercules" a few years ago and he also did voice-overs for the new Disney movie, the forthcoming "Dinosaur" and he collects original Disney cells from classic movies (at around �15,000 a pop!) He has around 14 including cells from Robin Hood. The Jungle Book and The Little Mermaid) and he has a real love of children. He talks endlessly about his nephews, Brandon and Jordan, (he comes from a big family, with two older brothers, Mark and Alan, a younger brother, Tony, and an older sister, Michelle), telling us that it's his brother's son Brandon's fourth birthday that day and how he's been phoning his brother to find out what to get him. It comes as no surprise, then, that Stephen is very keen to adopt himself. "Eventually myself and Eloy (De Jong - Stephen's Dutch boyfriend) would love to adopt" he says. "I don't know whether I would want a boy or a girl - although they say boys are easier! I just love kids, though. I think I'd be a good father - although I'd probably be strict but in a good way! It's so busy now, though, that I can hardly look after two dogs (he has a shih-tzu called Joey and an American Cocker Spaniel, which he got for his recent birthday (St Patrick's Day, March 17, fact fans - Stephen's a true Irishman!) called Woody). Later on maybe - in about four or five years times....."

It's when he explains his reasons for wanting to adopt that his caring nature really comes to a fore "I'm successful, I've done well, I've made a lot of money and I'd like to give a kid an opportunity," he says simply. "Put them through college, give them a chance in life. I'm from a very poor family - we didn't have that much money and the area we came from was bad. I'd just like to give a kid a happy life and a good home - there are so may kids out there who need that...."

Certainly Stephen hasn't forgotten his roots and the struggle that it took to get where he is today "You don't forget where you came from" he emphasises. "I don't think that I've ever forgotten where I can from. There's a lot of people who can forget when they get a lot of money, but I tend to think that I know that it's like to have no money. I know what it's like NOT to be in this position. And that make you a lot more grateful for what you receive...."

Having said that, though, Stephen certainly knows how to enjoy himself. He has a house in Wicklow (although he has a boat in Amsterdam and regularly visits Eloy who is still based there) and admits that he spends a, lot of money on clothes (his favourite labels are Gucci and Alexander McQueen - in fact, he was popping down to Gucci after this very interview to buy an outfit for tonight's party.) although he also admits that he prefers to buy present for others rather than spend money on himself... He also has quite a few celeb names in his address book! "I know Mel C quite well," he says. "We would talk on the phone. Shaznay from All saints would also be a good mate of mine. Victoria Beckham is really cool as well. She's really nice - I think people see her in a different light - she's a really sweet girl...." Blimey - is there no-one Stephen doesn't like? Apparently not, it would seem - he's even got a good word fro one of rock's notorious bad boys - Noel Gallagher: "I've met Noel - he was really cool, really sound. I met him at TOTP one day and had a chat" he says. "I think we were going head to head for Number One or else they were Number One and we were just about to release a track and he said "Oh, you'll probably knock us off Number One" and I said "You never know!", but he's a nice guy, though, really friendly...."

It looks like Stephen Gately, like Keith Duffy, is truly one of the nicest men in pop and if you need any further proof, then he's got this special message for You, the readers who voted him the Most Outstanding Personality at our recent awards " just wanted to say thank you for the award. I know it was voted for by the public and that's what makes it even more special. The support has been incredible - I couldn't have wished for a better response. Thanks for sticking by the band fro the last six years and I hope you stick around for the solo stuff. I hope you enjoy it - I enjoyed making it. I had a laugh and I put my heart and soul into it. Thanks...."