Heartbroken Ronan Keating turned to drink to help him cope with the breakdown of his marriage, admitting he has had "a horrible past few months".
The Boyzone star recently split from his wife of 14 years, Yvonne, and the Irish singer admits he hit the bottle as he struggled to come to terms with being single.
In a candid interview with The Mirror newspaper he says, "It's been a horrible past few months. This has been by far the hardest thing I have ever had to contend with in my life, the hardest thing Yvonne and I have had to do together.
"The decision was horrible but it was for the best, and we are great now and still very close. We really are friends and the most important thing is that the kids are OK and happy, that they're not affected.
"In a situation like this, children are always the priority, they always come first. I still see my kids, that side of things is completely fine - there are no issues. I've lost a bit of weight. I run a lot and basically I haven't been eating - just drinking all the f**king time. It's not healthy, really."
Even though he is moving on with his life, Ronan has no immediate plans to begin dating again, adding, "This whole split has been incredibly painful. I am very much single now but can't even contemplate dating again - that is the last thing on my mind, even the thought of it terrifies me. I'm just not interested."
There has been some good coming out of his heartbreak - it has opened up the creative floodgates.
He tells The Sun: "You can reflect on what's happened in your life and write. It's like somebody flicked a switch and I'm ready to write again."
Ronan and Yvonne initially split in 2010 amid allegations Keating had a fling with a dancer, but the couple rekindled the romance several months later. They split again late last year and announced the news in April.