Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was left in floods of tears as he opened up about his brother Ciarán Keating’s death in a clip aired during BBC’s The One Show to promote his new travel series
Dan Laurie Deputy Editor of Screen Time
20:39, 03 Apr 2026Updated 23:06, 03 Apr 2026
Ronan Keating was left in floods of tears as he opened up about his brother’s death(Image: bbc)
Pop star Ronan Keating has admitted he’s found it “very hard” to cope with grief following the loss of his brother.
The Boyzone frontman journeyed back to the west coast of Ireland as part of his brand new BBC travel series.
A clip from Ronan Keating’s Wild Atlantic was shown during Friday’s (April 3) episode of The One Show, featuring the pop star in conversation with his professional footballer nephew Ruairí Keating about the tragic death of his father and Ronan’s brother, Ciarán Keating.
Ciarán was killed in a car accident in 2023 while travelling to watch his son play football, alongside his wife Annemarie, who suffered serious injuries in the collision.
During an emotional exchange, Ronan confessed that “our lives haven’t been the same” since losing his brother, who he described as his “hero”, reports the Irish Mirror.
The Boyzone frontman journeyed back to the west coast of Ireland as part of his brand new BBC travel series(Image: bbc)
The Life Is A Rollercoaster singer said: “I’ve kind of parked my emotions for the last two years. I haven’t been able to really deal with it, with the loss.
“And I think this journey that I’m on is me trying to understand more, so that I can somehow grieve and let go because I found it very hard.”
Struggling to hold back tears, Ronan went on: “He was so proud of you and he will still be so proud of you in everything that you’re doing. All of you kids, you were his world.
The pop star spoke with his professional footballer nephew Ruairí Keating (Image: BBC)
“I never get to say it but like, I was the baby. He’s my hero. It’s very hard.”
Ciarán’s son Ruairí also revealed that he continues to “look up” while playing football and thinks he can still spot his late dad amongst the spectators, and confessed the “hardest part” is no longer seeing his father’s name appearing on his phone following each match.
Ronan went on to reveal that his brother served as his motivation for undertaking Wild Atlantic as a project.
He previously stated: ‘It started as a celebration of the west coast of Ireland, the Wild Atlantic Way, the cliffs, the beaches, the people.
Ciarán was killed in a car accident in 2023 (Image: BBC)
“I spent so many summers there, so it already meant a lot to me but as we began filming, it naturally evolved into something more personal.”
Referring to Ciaran’s decision to reside on the west coast, Ronan added: “So the journey became about understanding that decision, what drew him there, what he found there.”
‘It turned into a very emotional and very beautiful exploration of his love for that part of Ireland mine too.”
The One Show and Ronan Keating’s Wild Atlantic are available to watch on BBC iPlayer