Mikey Graham has hit back at criticism surrounding his emotional Boyzone reunion performance, accusing some commentators of trying to 'kick a guy when he's down'.
The singer, 53, made a rare return to the stage last weekend as Boyzone reunited for their Two For The Road concerts at London's Emirates Stadium. But while fans were thrilled to see him back alongside Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch, questions quickly emerged online after Mikey appeared in only a handful of songs and spent much of the performance seated.
The discussion intensified when his daughter, Sienna Graham, appeared on RTÉ Radio 1 and was asked about negative reactions to the reunion. The interview did not go down well with Mikey. Taking to social media afterwards, the star accused presenter Kieran Cuddihy of unfairly putting his daughter in an uncomfortable position.
'Woe is not me,' he wrote. 'I'm a quiet private man but when a stupid and cruel excuse of a so called talk show host tries to insult my daughter on live radio about her father you better be ready for backlash from me! You're no kind of man at all to ask that question to a young girl!'
He continued: 'I'd like to see Kieran Cuddihy do what I did and see how he'd get on up there in front of a stadium. What a cruel fool and idiot of a man! How dare you speak to my daughter that way!'
The singer later shared footage from the reunion concerts showing thousands of fans singing along and cheering. 'I was told there was apparently some backlash mentioned on Irish radio,' he wrote. 'I can't see any there, can you?' In a further swipe, he added: 'Shame on RTÉ NATIONAL IRISH RADIO. Try to kick a guy when he's down!'
The row comes just days after fans expressed concern about Mikey's appearance during the shows. While Ronan, Keith, and Shane opened the concerts as a trio, Mikey joined later in the evening, rising from beneath the stage before performing several songs while seated. He then stood to take part in the finale. For many viewers, however, simply seeing him back on stage was cause for celebration.
The singer has been candid in recent years about his struggles with depression, alcoholism, confidence issues and the long-lasting emotional impact of his Boyzone years. In last year's documentary Boyzone: No Matter What, Mikey admitted he had no intention of returning to perform with the band because of the painful memories associated with that period of his life. 'I don't want to go back to how I felt for many years,' he said at the time. He also spoke about feeling overlooked during the group's heyday and revealed that his confidence had been severely damaged.
Those admissions prompted many fans to defend him following the reunion. 'Lovely to see him back on stage, especially after he said he wouldn't in the documentary,' wrote one supporter online. Another added: 'Mikey was always my favourite. It was sad listening to his story in the documentary. Lovely to see him back up there.' Others praised the courage it must have taken to perform in front of tens of thousands of people after years away from the spotlight.
Sienna echoed those sentiments during her radio appearance, insisting that many people failed to appreciate what her father had overcome to make it onto the stage. 'As his daughter, I'm just so proud of everything he's achieved,' she said. 'In a stadium there are a lot of people, so it's an achievement in itself to go up and do that and sing in front of all those people again.' She also urged people not to focus on negativity, adding that her family preferred not to spend time dwelling on critical comments.
The reunion concerts marked Boyzone's first major live performances together since the success of the Sky documentary reignited public interest in the group and their complicated history.
