"We ended up kicking the hell out of each other!"

Yikes, are Boyzone all-scrappin', all-snarlin' wild men of ROCK?! Smash Hits faced up to them...

What kind of music do you like these days?

Ronan: It really varies throughout the group. Shane still loves his rap and Mikey still loves his Eric Clapton and Sting...

Mikey: (Interrupting) No, I do not! I've been saying I like Sting in interviews for years and it's not even true - I don't even listen to him any more!

Steve: I've been listening to the Corrs, and Madonna's new album. They're both brilliant.

Keith: I've been listening to the new Madonna album recently, and some of her old ones as well.

Ronan: (Looks worried) I've been listening to our album and trying to learn the words to the songs! The tour starts soon and I haven't got a clue what I'm singing. Honest to God, we've got this gig tomorrow night and I don't even know the lyrics to the song we're singing. I've had them faxed over today so that I get a chance to learn them in time!

When was the last time you argued amongst yourselves?

Steve: Shane and I had a great argument the other day...

Shane: We were travelling in this van, right, and we were really bored. So Stephen and I started playing 'It' by poking each other and being really annoying. Neither of us could win, 'cos it's pretty impossibe to run away when you're stuck in a van, so in the end I got so wound up that I punched Stephen!

Steve: So I punched him back.

Shane: (Excitedly) And the two of us ended up kicking the hell out of each other!

Steve: In the end we had to shake hands and call a truce. It was very funny.

Which of you tells the worst jokes?

Ronan: (Raising his hand) Me! (Proudly) I am the worst joke teller in the world! I just can't do it! I get them round the wrong way and they don't make sense but I think they're hilarious! I'll be laughing away but no-one else'll know what I'm going on about!

Steve: I'm pretty bad as well. Mikey's funny because he does all the actions when he tells a joke.

Mikey: But Keith's funnier because he does all the actions when someone else is telling a joke!

Keith: I do! I get carried away and I'll be talking along with them and waving my hands in the air. I get very over-excited.

Which of you is the naughtiest?

Shane: It's got to be Keith...

Ronan: Yeah, he's always up for a laugh and ends up stuck in the middle of everything.

Keith: My problem is that I don't know when to stop. We'll all be out having a great time, but I'm the one who'll still be up at six in the morning when everyone else is in bed.

Mikey: Whenever anything gets broken or anything goes wrong, it'll all be Keith's fault

Keith: Well, I get blamed for it!

Do you still enjoy a good old laugh together?

Keith: Oh, yeah, mainly when we're talking about old times. You know, dodgy clothes we wore in the beginning and stuff.

Mikey: We're all as mad as each other really. Like the other day, we were in the Hard Rock Café in South America and we all started rocking out.

Shane: It was a really small place and we all started playing air guitar and going mad. Everyone was looking at us like, 'What the...?'

What was the last thing you splashed out on?

Ronan: Probably our houses.

Steve: (Pouting) I haven't bought a house yet. I'm the only one in the group that hasn't.

Mikey: The last thing I bought was an air compressor for mending cars. (They all fall about laughing) I'm doing up a car at the moment, so it's come in very handy.

When was the last time you all went on a really mad night together?

Shane: Probably the album launch.

Ronan: That wasn't a mad night - that was a crap night! I didn't get a chance to party at all.

Steve: We haven't been out together alone for ages. Either not all of us can make it or there are other people there.

Mikey: If it's just the five of us and there's no-one else there - not even people really close to the band - we have the best craic (ie a really good time). It's just a shame we don't get the chance to do it that often.

Which of you has the scariest mother in law?

(A silence falls over the group and shifty looks are exchanged all round)

Ronan: My mother-in-law is really lovely. She truly is.

Shane, Mikey and Keith: (Nodding in agreement) Yeah, so are ours. (More silence).

Which of your ambitions are still unfulfilled?

Steve: (Excitedly) I want to open a chocolate factory and eat sweets all day!

Shane: I think the main thing we've still got to do is work on America. We're going out soon to meet our record company and get a feel of things.

Keith: Maintaining our popularity is the main thing. It's one thing getting to the top, but it's another staying there.

Shane: Three of us got married before our third album came out and yet we still had a number one album, and it's our biggest-selling album to date. That really says something, you know.

Do you have any regrets?

Ronan: Yes - my awful Tin Tin haircut, and ever saying I was a virgin. That's haunted me. But maybe people will forget it now that I'm married!Magazine Articles