Iconic pop band Boyzone was originally a six-piece before band manager Louis Walsh sacked two stars for 'not fitting in'. New Sky documentary Boyzone: No Matter What highlights there were actually two members of the band who never got to enjoy the same levels of fame as their fellow bandmates. The famous Irish band's line-up consisted of Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham, and Stephen Gately, who enjoyed Number 1 hits including No Matter What and Love Me For A Reason.
But Richard Rock and Mark Walton were axed from the Irish boyband by Louis Walsh because they "didn't fit into the group". Shane Lynch shared in the new Boyzone documentary: "After some photoshoots, Louis Walsh wasn't happy with how we were looking, and there were these two guys, Mark Walton and Richard Rock. He just decided they didn't fit in the group, he just decided that they didn't gel and two of them were out".
Ronan Keating recalled he was stunned by their sacking, and it spurred the remaining bandmates to "work ten times harder". Louis Walsh interjected: "I had to let them know that they could all be replaced at any time. I had to make sure they were hungry and they ambitious and didn't take anything for granted. I was like that from day one.". Their sacking meant Mikey Graham was now in the band, although he struggled with fame of being in the 1990s boyband.
Richard Rock and Mark Walton went on and had their own struggles but also successes outside of Boyzone, but where are they now?. Richard is the son of Irish entertainer Dickie Rock, and thus, he grew up with a performing background. He joined the band in the early 90s, but his 'bad boy' image didn't quite work with Louis' plan to have a clean-cut boyband for the young fans. Richard Rock was booted out of the band due to his hard-partying and drug-taking. Richard struggled in he wake of the band's rise to fame and after a tough few years, he later turned to focusing on songwriting as well as working as a DJ on the late night circuits at clubs in Dublin.
Richard struggled with heroin use, and he received a two-year suspended sentence for the possession of heroin in June 1998. A few years later in 2004, Richard managed to check into a rehabilitation centre. Richard went on to work for a media company as well as join forces with another musician as part of the electronic duo Lectrosoul. He got married in 2018 to Sadaf Javan. His whereabouts are unknown, but he is understood to be enjoying a private life away from the public eye.
Mark might not have made the final cut of the band - but he is worth a lot of money. His company is 5th Avenue, which has worked with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias. He even had a stint on TV, working as a judge on Vietnam Idol, the spin-off of Simon Cowell's hit show. In 2016, he claimed he was a billionaire. He said: "I never planned to be in a position where I could be a billionaire from Ireland.
"Right now, I have the crazy glamour, big-name side to what I'm doing in my career that I think no one expected of me. And I intend to do a lot more with it than buy Lamborghinis and spend my time on the beach.". The Donaghmede man - who went to school with Shane Lynch - was previously involved with B*Witched for a short time. Boyzone: No Matter What is available on Sky Documentaries and NOW. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox.
