THE CD:UK INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN GATELY

Boyzone star, Disney obsessive and all round nice guy Stephen Gately joins worldpop for a good old natter about his solo career … Click here to watch a video of this interview.

worldpop: Tell us about your new single

Stephen: The single's called Stay and it's different from the first two. It's more poppy, more of a Britney, Backstreet style. I love that style of music anyway so I'm really pleased with the production on it. I recorded it in Norway.

worldpop: It's very upbeat, were you itching to do another dance routine?

Stephen: I love dancing but I haven't danced in a while because on tour is usually where you do most dancing so, yeah, I was looking forward to doing a routine. But this dance routine is so heavy!

worldpop: Did it take much rehearsing?

Stephen: Yes,l it took a good bit of rehearsing because I hadn't sung and danced in a while. It was good to get my head back around it.

worldpop: You're looking fantastic, have you been working out?

Stephen: No, I've been on a massive diet because around the time of the last single I put on weight and I had kidney stones as well which really stopped the work that I was doing. But now I feel on top of the world. I feel really energetic, I'm on my diet, I've lost weight and I'm taking really good care of myself.

worldpop: What can we expect from the album?

Stephen: More of the style of Stay. That's what I'd like to go with because I think this kind of sound is going to work for me.

worldpop: Are you planning a solo tour?

Stephen: I'd love to go out on a solo tour. I mean Ronan's done one, Mikey's done one, Ronan's doing another one and this my third single so I think I could afford to do a tour. Yeah, I'd love to!

worldpop: What's really going on with Boyzone tour?

Stephen: I don't know whether it's going to happen or not. I really want to do it, I'd love to do a tour, I'd sign the contract tomorrow if it was presented to me. I just think some people within the group are really, really busy so it's a matter of time. You never know.

worldpop: Why does Shane keep slagging Ronan off?

Stephen: I don't know. Shane's Shane. Shane is very straight and he'll tell you what he thinks. He just says these type of things. I think Shane really, really wants to do a tour so I think he's annoyed that there may be a possibility we won't tour.

worldpop: When did you last see the rest of Boyzone?

Stephen: The last time the five of us were together was just before Christmas when we went out to dinner. I would like to meet up again. I'm going to meet up with Keith and Shane in the next couple of days.

worldpop: Did you see Keith on Big Brother?

Stephen: Yeah, I thought he was fantastic. I thought he handled himself very well and what we saw is the real Keith, he's a real joker. I hope he gets more TV offers because I can see him really doing well. I think that's the way to go for him cos he's just got such a good personality and he's really funny.

Interview: Tammy Hoyle

Camera: Jim Bloxam

Stay is out now.