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Ronan Keating admitted to an affair with Boyzone backing dancer Francine Cornell in an interview with Piers Morgan. He had the affair while he was married to his first wife Yvonne Connolly – but only came clean when he was backed into a corner

Ronan Keating has been married to his wife Storm since 2015 – but his first marriage didn’t run smoothly. He tied the knot with first wife Yvonne Connolly in 1998, but after 12 years of marriage and three children together, she discovered he was cheating.

It was 2010 when Yvonne felt a change in their relationship, suspecting something wasn’t quite right. As Yvonne, 46, was preparing for the family’s home move, she stumbled upon something while packing.

Her worst fears were confirmed when she got hold of Ronan’s phone bills and discovered he’d made calls to an unfamiliar number. Yvonne dialled the mystery digits and after listening to the answering machine, realised that it belonged to Francine Cornell. Back then, Francine was 26 and a Boyzone backing dancer who had reportedly been secretly involved with Ronan for seven months.

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“She knew something was going on and she got hold of his phone records and called my number,” Francine is said to have told to The Sun. “From my voicemail she got my name – that’s how she found out. Ronan tried to deny it all at first. He said I was a dancer from the tour and we were just good friends.”

Yvonne isn’t said to have been convinced though and called Francine directly. According to Francine, their affair was not just physical as she had fallen for Ronan, and he reportedly professed his love for her, too.

But just days later, he’s said to have ended things with Francine in order to reunite with Yvonne, telling her in a phone call that they could never speak again. So it came as a shock when, a month on, Yvonne invited Francine to a hotel in London.

“I just needed answers. I just needed the truth, and I needed to make sure stories collaborated,” Yvonne is quoted as having said on Brendan O’Connor’s Cutting Edge. “It was very hard to figure out who you can trust. So this was the answer to it. I was going to meet this girl, a quick 20-minute conversation, and we’d be done and dusted.

“And in fairness to her, she came and met me. But the 20-minute conversation turned into a couple of bottles of wine. After a few hours I realised she needed it as much as I did and I know it sounds very dramatic, but she was as much as a victim as I was. I think we both got something from it.

“When I look back, this is what it all boils down to: it was basically two girls in love with the same boy who over a five-hour conversation realised that that boy was not who we thought he was.”

The situation reportedly then took an unexpected turn when police arrived at the hotel after Francine’s mother made a concerned call – though Yvonne initially mistook them for strippers.

The ex-model added: “There was a knock on the door and I looked out through the peephole and I saw people dressed as policemen. I said to them, ‘Tell me you’re strippers’, to which I was told, ‘No we’re the Metropolitan Police and we’ve come to investigate the whereabouts of this girl.'”. She added: “To this day, it’s like that happened to somebody else, I just think it’s the funniest story.”

The Keatings did relocate into their planned new abode and spent the following year attempting to mend their relationship. Ronan is said to have utilised the sleeve notes of his 2010 solo album Duet as an to “apologise” to his wife, who he married in 1998 when they were both aged 21.

“You are the most incredible, inspirational woman I have ever met,” he stated. “For the mistakes I have made in my life, I am sorry. Guess you have to go there to come back. It was a dark place and you were the light to bring me back. I love you.”

Regrettably, the couple couldn’t save the relationship and confirmed their separation in April 2012. Yvonne has since moved on with cinematographer John Conroy, while Ronan embarked on a relationship with TV producer Storm Uechtritz, whom he met on The X Factor Australia.

The couple got married in 2015 in a Scottish ceremony, and have since welcomed son Cooper, seven, and daughter Coco, four.

Regarding the affair from his first marriage, the Irish singer seemed repentant in 2016, with the Daily Telegraph reporting him as saying: “Nobody should have an affair. If you’re man enough to have the balls to go home and say, ‘Sorry, this isn’t working anymore,’ that’s the ideal situation, isn’t it? But we’re weak. We don’t do that. So yes, I hurt people and I am sorry for that hurt, but the outcome is I found Storm and I’m very grateful. But I’m saying sorry.”

He reportedly later took to Facebook, insisting that he had no regrets about his divorce because ‘it’s what [he] wanted’. “There is a lot more to it than an affair and obviously it was broken well before then,” he posted. “Over the years I have kept my mouth shut and taken all the blame for the sake of my kids & my ex wife. But enough now. After 6yrs I draw the line.”

He continued: “There is a lot more to my situation than people will ever know and that’s the way it should be. But there are always two people in a relationship and if it’s not working there’s more than one good reason for it.

“I will not stand for complete misrepresentation of my truth and my heart anymore. I’ve done that for way too many years and too long in the tooth for it. Please respect that everyone has moved on and better off. Not once did I say I was apologising to my ex wife or saying sorry for the affair. I said I was sorry for all the hurt it had caused, to which I truly am.”

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As the king of daytime TV, Richard Madeley, celebrates his 69th birthday, the Mirror looks back at the very first moment he met his wife Judy and the cheeky nickname she gave herself that left him stunned

For decades, Richard Madeley has been a fixture of British television, and this week he’s celebrating his 69th birthday. He and his wife Judy Finnigan, 76, have both enjoyed long and successful careers as television presenters – even being dubbed the king and queen of daytime by some fans.

The pair first met on Richard’s very first day working at Granada and they quickly became close, and have been together since 1986. However, the initial encounter did leave Richard more than a little bit stunned, he has since revealed, after his future wife introduced herself with a seriously cheeky nickname.

“I was sitting at my desk when this hand appeared on my shoulder and I looked up and this beautiful blonde said ‘Hi, I’m your mummy’ and I thought ‘whaaaaat?'” he explained to Best.

However, there was actually a good reason that Judy used this surprising nickname to introduce herself to Richard back in 1982: “At Granada, when someone new arrived, someone was appointed as their dad or their mum to show them around the canteen, the toilets and all that. So Judy was my ‘mum’.”

Alongside this initial confusion, he also has admitted that he didn’t actually give the best first impression to his now-wife. Richard – who was then in his mid-twenties – said he dressed up smartly in a light blue linen suit for his first day at his new job, but the look didn’t exactly blow her away, with Richard revealing she thought he looked like a bit of a “prat” in the outfit.

For her part, Judy has told the Mirror previously about their first encounter, “I remember the first time I saw him. He walked into the newsroom and I was sitting at my desk at the other end…I remember exactly what he was wearing: a pale blue linen suit. I thought he looked nice. Tall, handsome, and all that but I thought the suit was a bit flash. Then, because he was a newbie, I was assigned the job of looking after him.”

The pair were both actually married to other people when they first worked together, but, eventually, after going out for dinner one night, things became romantic between them and they began having an affair. “It was actually very painful because we were very much in love but it was very difficult,” Richard has said.

In 1984, Judy, who is eight years older than Richard, decided to cut things off, because she was worried that Richard wasn’t ready to become a step-parent to her twin sons – Dan and Tom, who were only six at the time.

However, Richard was determined to be in Judy’s life, and her two boys. “I knew Dan and Tom really well and they were smashing, they were terribly sweet, so I took it very ­seriously. In the end I knew of course that I could do it – I wanted to do it,” he said previously.

It still took Judy another year to decide to formally take the plunge with Richard, but the pair finally married in 1986, and have been together ever since.

They started presenting This Morning together in 1988 and their presenting careers have gone from strength to strength. Richard still works on-screen, but Judy stepped away from the limelight a decade ago, and Richard makes sure his work schedule doesn’t impinge on his wife too much – even though that means they have to sleep in separate beds sometimes.

Richard explained on the White Wine Question Time podcast: “When I’m doing Good Morning Britain I sleep in the spare room. I do probably sleep a little bit better in bed with Judy but I’m okay on my own.” Pondering the notion of disrupting Judy’s precious rest, he quipped: “I wouldn’t think of doing that to Judy. Apart from anything else, Judy and her sleep, you do not mess with.”

He has also revealed the powerful impact presenting together had on any issues that came up in his private life with Judy, calling it a “cure” for any marital woes. “Well, I mean, sometimes, you’d have a row. And you’d get to work not talking,” he told his daughter Chloe on the first episode of Chloe Madeley: A Family Affair. “But the show was a cure.”

He added: “I mean, it wasn’t, like, false, you actually did genuinely have to come on and do the double act. You would find that within maybe 15, 20 minutes of going on air.”

Celine Dion was spotted jetting to Basel ahead of the Eurovision 2025 final on Saturday night, but it is still uncertain if she will be able to perform at the event

Celine Dion has jetted off to Basel ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, yet it remains uncertain whether she will grace the event with her presence. The music icon’s private plane departed from Paris for Switzerland yesterday morning, marking 37 years since her victorious performance for the country with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.

However, it is reported that discussions are still underway and her potential appearance hangs in the balance due to her health concerns.

The 57 year old singer, who won Eurovision in Dublin in 1988, has faced difficulties with her singing abilities since disclosing her battle with Stiff Person Syndrome in December 2022, although she did manage a rare performance at the Paris Olympics last summer.

A source close to Eurovision revealed to The Sun: “The team have been talking to Celine about appearing or performing at the ceremony for months and it has been very up and down.”

“At one point this week, it looked like she would not be attending, but now it is looking far more likely she will be there. Rehearsals have gone ahead without her, but everyone is crossing their fingers. It’ll be down to the wire.”

Despite being in Las Vegas, Celine sent a video message to Eurovision which was aired during Tuesday’s semi-final, hinting that she might not make it to the event. Celine said in the short video: “Dear Eurovision family and contestants, I’d love nothing more than to be with you in Basel right now. Switzerland will forever hold a special place in my heart. It’s a country that believed in me and gave me the chance to be part of something so extraordinary.

“Winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 1988 was a life-changing moment for me, and I’m so thankful for everyone who supported me. Now, 37 years later, it’s so beautiful and emotional to see Switzerland winning and hosting this incredible event once again. To the people of Switzerland, thank you for your love. This night is yours, and I hope you feel as proud as I do.”

Celine’s video message left fans emotional, while others were left questioning if she will in fact appear in the grand final tonight.

Celine was representing Switzerland when she won more than 30 years ago. That marked the last time that the country, which has won three times overall, topped the leaderboard prior to Nemo’s victory with the Code last year.

She’s enjoyed a successful career since competing in the contest but has taken a step back from performing since announcing in 2022 that she’d been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome (SPS) in 2022.

It’s described as a rare neurological disorder, with symptoms said to include muscle stiffness and spasms. She however made a ‘comeback’ at the Olympics in Paris last year, where she performed on top of the Eiffel Tower.