Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden may have achieved global success with their respective bands Boyzone and Westlife, but they admit they weren't expecting such an incredible response to their newly-formed pop supergroup Boyzlife. The duo's nationwide tour sold out within 24 hours of going on sale at the beginning of March, and now they admit there are a number of possibilities of how the group could evolve in the future.
Speaking exclusively to HELLO! Online, Keith revealed where they got the idea for the collaboration, explaining he had originally planned to share stories from his career in a solo show.
Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden have teamed up to form Boyzlife
"I was basically going to do a show on my own, performing my book if you like, of my career – going from Boyzone into Corrie and stuff like that, just funny stories and reliving things that happened and sharing it with people," Keith explained, adding that his plans changed when he went to see Brian perform before Christmas.
"I met Brian after the show, it was a great performance that night and between the two of us we just said, 'Hang on, why don't we do it together instead of doing it on our own?' It makes it a lot more interesting.
"He can interview me, I can interview him, we can have a laugh, we can do a couple of songs together, we can get the crowd going, an idea was born and the next day with our hangovers we decided, 'You know what, we come up with an awful lot of ideas when we're drunk, we've just remembered one for the first time!'"
The long-time friends have promised fans "an evening of music, stories and laughter"
The idea developed into the Boyzlife tour in partnership with Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Demand was so high that all 12 dates sold out within a day, and now there is talk of extending the live shows further.
Brian explained: "We never expected to sell out the first day. It's great because we can just do more shows. The one thing I didn't like about it was that it was only 12 dates, we want to go for longer!"
As for what fans can expect from the collaboration? "It's going to be a great night out, a night of reminiscing and nostalgia," Keith says. "All the old hits back from the early nineties and there's going to be a lot of video content and clips on a big screen that will remind them of nights that they were maybe at a show at Wembley or the O2, and just a montage of 20 odd years in the business."
Keith Duffy has been a member of Boyzone since 1993
Meanwhile Brian said that audiences will get to find out what life was like in the two successful boy bands from their own perspective.
"Most people will have only seen what it's like through the TV or radio or newspapers but they're finally going to get to hear from us," he said. "We've never had an autobiography and we've never spoke about what it was like on this side of it, so I think it will be interesting for people to hear what it was like for us."
Many of those stories will involve their respective bandmates, and while none of them are currently involved with the new supergroup, Keith said they are "very supportive" of the idea.
Brian was an original member of Westlife, and left the band in 2004
"We know that Shane [Lynch] and Mikey [Graham] are definitely going to come," Brian said, before suggesting that the group could evolve to see other band members pair up for their own Boyzlife tour.
"Who knows next year you might have Kian and Shane doing it together or Mikey and Mark, there's kind of an open idea for anyone who wants to do it. Because we're from two different bands people want to know if anyone else will join. But this year is about me and Keith, and if anyone else wants to get involved further down the line we'll surely talk about it, but right now it's just us two."
Asked whether the group could record their own new music together, Keith suggested it's "very possible", while Brian also refused to rule out the prospect.
"As we've said, whether other members of the band come together for shows next year or new music or whatever, we're saying no to nothing. We're doing this right now, but we're just going to see what happens."
Boyzlife will tour the UK in partnership with Hilton Hotels & Resorts in October. For more information and tickets visit boyzlifetour.com.