BOYZONE star Keith Duffy, 47, has opened up on his son Jay Duffy’s career, admitting he “wasn’t a popular dad” after a decision he made.
Jay is 26-years-old and an actor, and he got his first taste of the industry at a young age in Hollyoaks.
Jay played Declan Brady on the Channel 4 soap between 2011 and 2012.
But despite the soap bosses wanting to house school him in his early teens so that he could do the show full-time, Keith wasn’t on board with the idea.
The Love Me For A Reason singer opened up in an exclusive chat with The Sun, saying: “When Jay did Hollyoaks when he was 13 and 14 they wanted to house school him and have him on the show full-time.
“Jay really wanted to do that but I said no. I said he could do holiday times but I told him he had to go to school, get his GCSEs and his A-Levels.”
Keith admitted he “wasn’t a popular daddy” after sharing his decision with Jay.
Read More on Keith Duffy
The star, who played Ciaran McCarthy in Coronation Street from 2002 to 2005, explained his son “really wanted to be an actor” from an early age.
Keith, who also shares a daughter with wife Lisa Smith, continued: “I know how difficult it is to be an actor. You can have a pipe dream and hold onto that for too long and nothing happens and you’ve wasted half your life and don’t have an education.
“I’ve never put pressure on my kids. I let them just find their way and tried to encourage them to do whatever excited them or whatever they wanted to do. If their decisions weren’t wise I tried to guide them in a different direction.”
It turns out Keith’s decision didn’t hinder his son, who has since paved a successful career as an actor.
The proud dad shared: “I made him doing an acting course and he’s well-polished. He’s had a lot of work – he’s been in Derry Girls and had a couple of movies and now he’s working on two really, really big international projects.
“When they come out he’ll probably be a bit more well-known than he is now to say the least.”
Keith is keeping very busy with his career as a successful artist, with him and best pal Brian McFadden, 42, having just kicked off their much-anticipated Old School tour, which sees the duo performing Westlife and Boyzone classics, as well as hits from their debut album of original music.
Discussing the tour, Keith teased what fans can expect as he said there will be medleys and dancing for people to enjoy.
“I love the songs in the new album and we’ve tried to write them with the energy of power ballads and the energy of the 80s,” Keith explained, adding there will be “fist pumping music” for audiences to get groovy to.
He added: “We’re very aware that a lot of our fans are coming along to enjoy the big Westlife and Boyzone boomers and so we’re not going to disappoint them. We’ll have all the big hits on the set list.
Boyzlife Back To The Old School Tour is across the UK now
