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Louis Walsh thanks fellow X Factor judges for help after Stephen Gately’s death

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

Louis Walsh attends the funeral of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately at St Laurence O'Toole Church in Dublin

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Louis Walsh has credited Simon Cowell and pop star Cheryl Cole with helping him cope with the pressure of returning to the X Factor after Stephen Gately's shock death.

The music mogul was devastated after the body of the Boyzone star was found in his luxury apartment in Majorca on October 10, with a postmortem examination concluding the singer died from fluid on the lungs.

After missing two episodes to come to terms with what happened, Louis has made a dramatic return to the show just a week after the Boyzone singer was laid to rest.

And in an exclusive interview from his dressing room, he told how ‘Mr Nasty' Simon Cowell shed his bad-boy image to offer his support as he returned to the programme, which has attracted audiences of 15 million people in the latest series.

“I didn't really know what it would be like coming back on the show after everything that has happened,” he revealed.

“I was all over the place after the funeral and I took a couple of days to come to terms with the loss.

“But when I came back to London the first person I bumped into was Simon and he was unbelievable.

“He didn't stand on ceremony, he again paid his respects and told me that I was missed After that it was business as usual and I just threw myself into work. Cheryl and Dannii gave me big hugs, but again, after that, it was a competition and we just got on with the work\[Stephen Holland\] It was nice of them, but I just tried to get on with things.”

And the Boyzone manager declined to comment on the speculation surrounding the circumstances of the star's death.

He said: The most recent claim was that Stephen drank two bottles of wine and had some cannabis but Louis refused to comment on the whirlwind of media reports.

“Stephen is always going to be in my thoughts and I will deal with that in my own way.

“I have avoided reading any of the papers because, you know what?

“Nobody knows what happened that night and I am not going to be privy to speculation.” Stephen was a warm and caring guy who was a pleasure to work with. His family are wonderful warm and considerate people and my thoughts are with them at this tough time.