Spending the night with Stephen Gately's coffin made Boyzone "fall to pieces".

The Irish boyband have broken their silence over the sudden and unexpected death of Stephen last month, and described the night they spent alone with him at church ahead of his funeral on October 17.

Lead singer Ronan Keating told Sky News: "To turn up on the Friday night at the funeral home was the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do in my life. And I think all the lads feel the same, I know they do.

"When I walked into the funeral home I just crumbled. I fell to pieces. It was there that I realised he was gone, really gone."

Ronan and band members Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham had accompanied Stephen's body from Majorca, where he was staying in his holiday home with husband Andy Cowley when he died after a night out aged 33.

They then took the unusual move of staying with his body overnight at St Laurence O'Toole's church in Dublin, where the funeral was held, because they didn't want Stephen to be alone.

Ronan added: "All of us are so happy that we did it. It was our last real night together as a five-piece, and it felt like that - it felt like we were quiet.

"We lay on the floor to the left of the coffin in our sleeping bags and we cried and we laughed and we could hear him telling us jokes and answering back, what he would say back.

"We didn't get much sleep - a little bit but that's not what it was about - it was just about spending time with Steve and we knew Steve well. He didn't like the dark, he didn't like being on his own."

The band also revealed Stephen had already recorded vocals for two tracks wich will be included on their next album.