Singer Mikey Graham
Mikey leaves our girl in a spin as he reveals heartache
MIKEY Graham is a changed man.
Currently the bookies' favourite on the BBC's hit show, Dancing On Ice, his life has become a haze of work commitments with zero down time.
But it's been the endless singing lessons in preparation for Eurosong, ice skating training and the rehearsals for Boyzone's gig next week, their first together since Stephen Gately's death, which has proved Mikey's "life raft" from tragedy.
Still struggling to cope with the tragic death of his band mate last year, Mikey suffered another blow when his close friend Niall McCrudden died in tragic circumstances just over two weeks ago.
Having previously spoken about his own "meltdown" after the break-up of Boyzone, Mikey spoke to me this week about how he was struggling to come to terms with Stephen's and Niall's deaths.
"None of the lads have a clue how to deal with the loss of Steo. We're not sure how to handle it, but I've just been lucky I've had so much work on, that I've buried myself in that," Mikey says.
"I suppose my work has been my life raft. Every minute I've been either with a voice coach or a skating instructor, or physio."
Having heard that Boyzone would be performing together for the first time without Stephen at London's Royal Albert Hall next week, I wondered how Mikey was feeling about it. But I was surprised at how little he knew.
"Is that next week?" he asked in disbelief.
"Where is the time going? It's the last night of Ronan's solo tour, so we're going to join him on stage.
"It's going to be emotional not having Steo there, but it's our way of easing our way back into things slowly.
Analysis
"I talk with the lads about Steo all the time. But I find I can't think about what happened too much or analyse it as it would destroy you.
"As for Niall's death, I'm devastated. He was one of my best mates."
Famed optician to the stars Niall McCrudden, who had dated top models including Siobhan McClafferty and Jodi Hession, is believed to have ended his own life two weeks ago, the day after his 45th birthday.
"He was in hospital for depression up until three days before his birthday. I spoke to him every day. I was there for him. I can't believe
it. I knew he was having problems but I thought he was working through them.
"In relation to Steo's death, I'm so glad Boyzone reformed and we had that extra time together. We're all so thankful that we had that extra bite of the cherry with him. It would have been far worse if we hadn't.
"We've actually just recorded a TV tribute to Stephen. Loads of people contributed - Louis, Westlife, Mika, even Bono did a videotape for it. It's a fitting tribute."
Despite being the favourite to win Eurosong, Mikey didn't feel cheated at losing out to Niamh Kavanagh.
"Of course I would have loved to win, but I trusted the public to pick their favourite song, and I have to go with that."
Having penned Baby Nothing's Wrong a couple of years ago with the Eurovision in mind, Mikey said, "I was just delighted it got this far."
"It's nice to be recognised as a songwriter. I'm thankful I made it to the final. I hope Niamh can go on to do well at Eurovision. It would be great if she won it."
"Getting this far, has given me the taste for it. I'll be back next year."
After seeing Mikey in the flesh, it's evident that hard work is serving him well.
Looking tanned and lean, he looks every bit the skating star.
"I actually loving the skating," smiles Mikey. "I had a really bad fall last Sunday just before I had to go out and perform. I should have been sent to hospital but I just went for it anyway.
"But halfway through it I went down on one knee and I could feel the tendon in my groin stretch and snap.
Trouble
"I'm actually looking forward to skating to Ronan's song When You Say Nothing At All. Let's hope he brings me some luck. He's in trouble if it doesn't!"
Sharing a laugh over the sparkly costumes that he has to wear for Dancing On Ice, Mikey laughs, "Yeah, there's not much breathing space provided in them.
"I was used to dodgy costumes from the early days of Boyzone but the tight leggings they give you here leave nothing to the imagination. They're fine, but I wouldn't be able to wear them all night - you'd pass out!"