Louis Walsh admits making up press stories in Boyzone doc trailer

Boyzone’s former manager, Louis Walsh, has admitted to fabricating stories about the band for press attention in a new trailer for the documentary Boyzone: No Matter What.

• READ MORE: ‘The X Factor’ bows out after 17 years: here’s what really killed the singing reality show

In the clip for the show, beginning February 2 on Sky Documentaries, Walsh is described as “the master puppeteer of the press” before the man himself admits he would say whatever it took to get media coverage of the band.

He revealed: “sometimes, the boys would read stories in the papers about themselves that weren’t true and they’d say ‘who told them that?’. I did! I told them”. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating elaborated: “He believed any story was a good story. He would make up stories constantly about the band, about relationships with girlfriends that were non-existent”.

In one of the most extreme examples, Walsh recalled making up a story about the band being in a plane accident. “I had them in a plane crash once in Australia and I forgot to tell the families I made it up” he says, chuckling at the memory, before admitting: “There was no plane crash, but it got a good story”.

The manager, who would go on to find fame on reality show X-Factor, was unrepentant, saying: “I never felt guilty about it. No way, I was promoting them. I was doing my job. But I would do it all again, yeah. Absolutely. I’d do it even more now”.

Keating, however, revealed the toll the attention took. “It scarred us, it was hugely scarring. What the media did to us all” he said.

Louis Walsh formed Boyzone in 1993, managing them until their split in 2000 and overseeing Keating’s solo career. The band reformed in 2007 with Walsh as manager, but they cut ties permanently in 2018.

Boyzone: No Matter What will consist of three hour long episodes, featuring remaining members Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Michael Graham talking about the high and lows of their success. Fifth member Stephen Gately passed away in 2009 aged 33.

Walsh has since had very public rifts with some of his former acts, with duo Jedward calling him an “absolute weirdo with bad intentions” and Keating branding him a “jealous bullshitter”.