Ronan Keating "barely slept" since Stephen Gately's death

Ronan Keating has barely slept since Stephen Gately died.

The Boyzone singer was “completely heartbroken” when his bandmate died last month. Five weeks later, his grief is still so “crushing” he has trouble breathing and sleeping.

“I just feel worn out,” the 32-year-old star said. “I haven't slept. My brain doesn't work. My heart's broken. You just feel crushed. I've had good days and bad days. The bad days are horrible. You can't breathe, you feel like your chest is collapsing, the walls are coming in on top of you. Anxiety I think is what they call it.

“I haven't been sleeping at all lately. It's been horrible. We've all been feeling the same way since Stephen passed. Mentally I'm absolutely exhausted.”

Ronan has been so profoundly upset by Stephen’s death, he is considering seeking counselling. It’s something he never ever thought about when his mother died of breast cancer 11 years ago.

“I've never before thought about going to get help with counsellors,” he said. “For the first time ever I think I should. When I lost my mum it was the hardest thing at the time I'd ever known in my life but because she was sick for two years and we were told three months before she died that she had three months left, subconsciously you build a wall, your defence mechanism goes up and you prepare yourself for that. Whereas with Stephen, there was nothing, just this wall of devastation, shock. I don't think it has hit any of us properly. There's times when you feel like you can't breathe, you know, when you're panicking and I'm not like that. I've always been on a level.”

Despite his grief, Ronan was determined not to turn to alcohol, as he did when his mother died. Instead, he is trying to piece his life back together with the help of his wife Yvonne, and their children Jack, 10, Missy, eight, and four-year-old Ali.

He told Britain’s Observer newspaper: “I wasn't going to let that overpower me. I wasn't going to let anything control me. I was going to control it – I'm talking about drink. I'm all right so far. As I say, I'm worn out, exhausted, but that's just from emotions, from travelling, just dealing with it all.”

Stephen died of acute pulmonary oedema on the Spanish island of Majorca.