Stephen Gately donned Joseph's flashy West End coat and also stepped on to the ice for Saturday night viewers.

Next week at Sheffield Arena he'll be fluorescent green as Boyzone – Ireland's first but now second-most successful male vocal act – return with a strong sense of humour.

"I look like a leprechaun," laughs the singer. "You've got to have that fun element and I'm more like Tigger up there, I'm loving it so much."

Ever since they called time when original lead singer and songwriter Ronan Keating went solo and on to an arena-filling career of his own, there's been talk of a comeback.

But individual careers, some more high profile than others – Keith Duffy joined the cast of Corrie, Shane Lynch found religion, drove fast cars and ate bugs on I'm A Celebrity, and eldest member Mikey Graham produced new bands – presented hurdles.

Now older, possibly wiser, but arguably even keener – not that a decent pay day surely has anything to do with it – the Irish quintet have set aside reported differences to show Westlife they can still pull the women. And a few long-suffering husbands.

And while Take That found humility in maturity Boyzone have sprinkled a pinch of humour in their show. For example, for 15 minutes these pale Irish lads cover six songs in four different costumes to present a, perhaps unlikely, Jacksons medley.

"I'm having a blast. It's just like there's been no gap. It all fell into place," enthuses Stephen. "As well as the singing and the dancing we're having a great laugh – and the audience can see that.

"I really missed it, of course. I was 17 when I was thrown into this mad life for eight years and then suddenly it gets taken away from you. So to get a second chance is great. And when I look at the list of songs it's hard to believe we sang all those."

Assembled by Louis Walsh in 1994, Boyzone danced, pranced and crooned their way to 16 consecutive top five hits – including six UK number one singles and four number one albums – on the way to shifting more than 15 million records.

Yet, even in the wake of Take That's colossal and lucrative comeback, a Boyzone revival was never certain until a reunion for Children In Need lit the touchpaper.

"To be honest I didn't know if it would ever happen," confirms Stephen. "There were meetings and nothing came of them. More meetings and they fell through. It was difficult for us all to commit.

"But then the ball was suddenly rolling and we got five weeks of rehearsals – which was longer than we ever had.

"For the choreography, we brought in the best people and stylists – we spent an awful lot of money to get it right.

"I have not performed in front of 10,000 people for years and I didn't know how well tickets were going to sell – especially without us releasing a single or an album."

That is also set to be remedied, however. With Gary Barlow's men came a chart-topping single and an album that landed them Brit Awards.


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