We were a working man's boy band.

It's harder for someone like a singer to prove they can be an actor because people immediately want to say, 'Oh, he's no good.'

If you're an up-and-coming star, and you want to do well, then a show like 'The X Factor' is really important.

I'd tell my 16-year-old self, 'Don't take yourself so seriously, and just have fun.'

Coffee isn't just a source of pleasure for me: it is something I rely on to get me through the day.

As you get older, the cliches of life ring true. It's the simple things that matter most: your family, the people you love, your health and sanity.

My faith is in God. If it's a little statue of Buddha or whatever works for you, brilliant.

I wanted to be Jon Bon Jovi and Bono. But I'm not that cool. I don't need to be. I'm not a rock star. I am who I am.

I have lived a crazy life since I was 16, have travelled the world, and met some amazing people. And if you can turn that into music, then you are doing something right.

The one thing I have always tried to get across is what you see is what you get. This is me, like it or lump it.

I don't know how to use a washing machine.

Christmas is a special time of year for everyone - I remember getting my first BMX bike when I was a kid, and it was the best present ever.

I can take too big a step. I can try to be too cool, and people won't accept that.

I'm a pop artist, and that's what I'll always be. I don't want to be a 'credible artist.'

If Simon Cowell asked me, of course I would love to do 'X Factor.'

I have a Superman tattoo on my right arm.

All my children are blessings. I love them to bits. They're my world.

I'm not nervous coming back to my old audience. I'm looking forward to it. That's really what I do; that's my day job.

I'm not incredibly wealthy. When you go through a divorce, that diminishes rapidly because you're supporting more than one household.

I wasn't going to let anything control me.

I wear my heart on my sleeve, and whatever I was giving, it was just coming from my natural place at that time. And you know, some albums I've made, I look back and think they were great, and then some I look at, and I think that wasn't right at the time.

When times are at their worst, it's amazing what people will do for you.

I just want to be a good man.

I thought I'd go away and make one album, but it was extended. The album did so well, and they wanted another album. I was on a high. You make hay while the sun shines, and I was doing it, and you think about yourself; that's what you do.

I find the Aussies are great and just let you be. The odd time, somebody has something smart to say, but it's very rare.

Sydney is the most amazing city. The food and the beautiful beaches are fantastic, and all that surf and sunshine make you feel unbelievably relaxed.

I am not a fan of being in the sea. I like being in a boat - sailing.

The Beckhams are really inspiring and have very elegantly risen to being the most powerful brand in the country. I'm sure a lot of couples look at that and say, 'Wow.'

Real-life experiences will probably end up in my music.

Judging on 'The Voice' or the 'X Factor UK' would be great; that would be ideal, really. But I don't think it's going to happen.

You're just one of the guys who fills a suit, and that's what's drilled into you by the record company and the management - 'You're lucky to have it. Now shut your mouth.' I get where that comes from, but it takes time to shake it off.

You can stay in situations just for the sake of it. That can be a very dangerous thing and tough on your soul and heart.

You need to be experimental. You try things, and it is OK if they don't always work necessarily.

Having the guts to be the person you are is what makes you brave.

As a kid, I was called Tintin because of my hair colour and style.

I did a bit of running away when my mam passed away. I didn't go back to work; I started drinking quite a lot, and I know how damaging that can be.

I'm not doing 'Once' to prove that I'm worldly or cultured. I just love the role.

The toughest challenges I've faced are the deaths of my mother and Stephen Gately.

I'd like less Irish-looking skin.

When greeting Pope Benedict a few years ago, I was meant to kiss the papal ring but I head-butted his hand instead. He just laughed at me.

I wouldn't want anyone to go through what my mam did - she was ill for two and a half years with breast cancer that moved to her spine, and died in 1998, when she was 51.

I've always been quite an insecure person.

I put up a front to make people think I had all of this confidence in myself, which I didn't.

I've always had to work to feel reassured, to feel secure, and that's not nice because you don't know where you stand.

I'm a good dad. I'm proud of that.

I grew up as the youngest child in a big, noisy family, and there was always someone around to hang out with.

As a working-class boy, golf was never really on my radar, and when I was growing up, Irish football was my sporting passion.

A musical is never something I thought I'd do.

It's that kind of Dublin mentality: you just have to grin and bear some things.

Being in a boy band, everyone has an opinion of all of us and what we do. There was a time I fought with that.