Boyzone's Shane Lynch 'never left house' as health struggles left him 'broken'
Boyzone singer Shane Lynch says he “never left the house” and would drink just to get through the day during his lowest moments. The iconic 90s boyband star, who was raised in Donaghmede, Dublin, opened up about the struggle in a recent interview. And he said the mental health battle took him back to being a little boy when he was “heavily dyslexic” and became a recluse because of it.Shane was just 17 when the group, also made up of Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham and Ronan Keating, formed in 1993. In 2000, the chart-topping entertainers split up, and suddenly Shane found himself in a dark place. He spoke about the challenging period on the Liam Tuffs podcast. Asked how his mental health was impacted, he said: “Mentally, I was a broken fella. 1999 into 2000 when the door closed, it really closed. “I had been on the road for seven years, the year (previously) we were on 130 planes that year. Let’s call it every second third day getting on a plane. Then the phone wasn’t ringing. The door wasn’t being knocked, the car wasn’t outside.
Shane has often been open about his mental health
(Image: ITV)
“I had nothing to do. I was like, s**t. And it goes back to, who the f*** am I? Who am I? The guy from Boyzone, called Shane Lynch, and now I’m not that guy from Boyzone called Shane Lynch any more. You are in the public view but you’re sat going, what are my next steps in life? Where do I go from here? What the f*** do I do?” Shane, like many people do, turned to the bottle. He continued: “That side of things got me into more boozing – and I was boozing just to get through the day because I didn’t know what to do. I had no purpose in life at that point. “Too much time on your hands. What saved me on that point was race cars. I kind of got into race cars at that point and it kind of gave me a focus as such but there was a period of three to six months of nothingness, emptiness.”
He recently appeared in the Sky Documentary series called Boyzone: No Matter What
Asked if he was experiencing depression, Shane answered: “Never as a diagnosis. I never went to someone and got help. But if I look back, ah man, I never left the house. Never left the house. “I just stayed indoors. Going back to being a recluse. Almost going back to being a young kid, a young kid instead of being a mid 20s or whatever it was at the time. "Like a child-like state of just fear of myself even. It was horrible.” Shane went on to be a professional drift driver and he has been racing with Team Japspeed since 2007. And last year he also became a shareholder in Lancashire based semi-professional football club, Chorley FC, alongside Keith Duffy and Westlife star Brian McFadden. For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.ie, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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