Keating, 22, said: "It could have been difficult, it could have gone either way. You never know how the fans will react.

"If anything they have backed him 100% and it has increased our fan base. Our gay audience has now gone totally huge, it's great."

Gately revealed his homosexuality and his relationship with a 26-year-old singer from a Dutch boy band in an interview last month.

Gately: Feared being "outed"

The 23-year-old reportedly told the press because he believed one newspaper was going to "out" him.

Fans showed their support by flooding the band's Website with messages and gave Gately the biggest cheer of the band when Boyzone played at the Party in the Park festival in London.

Surprise stardom

In an Internet chat for MSN, Keating also said that he never imagined he would have a pop career as a young man.

"I always thought I would be a policeman or a guard in Ireland, and then Louis Walsh came along and it was all a different story," he said, referring to Boyzone's manager, who handpicked the band from 300 hopefuls in 1993.

The group - Gately, Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham - have had a string of number one hits including Words, All That I Need and No Matter What.

Asked about Boyzone's continuing success, Keating added: "I believe it's because we are so honest with the public, that's why we are still here today.