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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Kirsten McStay

Ronan Keating's devastated ex-wife's showdown with mistress before police arrived

Ronan Keating 's son Jack is currently on our screens as a contestant on Love Island, having entered Casa Amor in a bid to put the girls' loyalty to the test.

He's already mentioned his famous dad to Islander Gemma Owen - whose own father is of course footballer Michael Owen - saying that he's extremely grateful for the opportunities his dad's career gave him, writes The Mirror.

But of course, there have been some dark points including the breakdown of his parents' marriage in 2012 - two years after Boyzone singer Ronan had an affair with dancer Francine Cornell.

Jack, now 23, was just 11 when the affair came to light after his suspicious mum Yvonne got hold of Ronan's phone and saw calls to a number she didn't recognise.

In an attempt to find out who was behind the phone calls, Yvonne called the number and learned the owner's name from the answering machine - it was pretty Boyzone backing dancer Francine, then 26, and she'd been embroiled in a secret, seven-month affair with her husband.

“She knew something was going on and she got hold of his phone records and called my number," Francine previously told The Sun.

“From my voicemail she got my name — that’s how she found out."

A few days later, Yvonne called Francine directly to hear her side of events. The truth, according to Francine, was that it was more than physical - she was in love with Ronan and he said he was in love with her.

But just days later Ronan broke things off with Francine to fight for his marriage with Yvonne, and in a emotional phone call told her they could never speak again.

So Francine was surprised when a month later, Yvonne asked her to come to her hotel in London.

"I just needed answers. I just needed the truth, and I needed to make sure stories collaborated," Yvonne explained on Brendan O'Connor's Cutting Edge.

"It was very hard to figure out who you can trust. So this was the answer to it. I was going to meet this girl, a quick 20-minute conversation, and we’d be done and dusted.'

However, the simple question and answer session turned into something much deeper, with the women ensconced in conversation for five hours.

She continued: "The 20-minute conversation turned into a couple of bottles of wine.

"After a few hours I realised she needed it as much as I did. I think we both got something from it.

"When I look back, this is what it all boils down to: it was basically two girls in love with the same boy who over a five-hour conversation realised that that boy was not who we thought he was."

However, there was high drama when police turned up at the hotel after receiving a call from Francine's frantic mother, who wondered why her daughter had been gone so long.

Ronan Keating and ex-wife Yvonne with son Jack and daughters Melissa and Ali (PA)

Admitting she couldn't believe what she was seeing, former model Yvonne continued: "There was a knock on the door and I looked out through the peephole and I saw people dressed as policemen.

"I said to them, 'Tell me you’re strippers', to which I was told, 'No we’re the Metropolitan Police and we’ve come to investigate the whereabouts of this girl.'"

She added: "To this day, it’s like that happened to somebody else, I just think it’s the funniest story."

The Keatings fought hard to repair their fractured relationship and Ronan chose the sleeve notes of his 2010 solo album Duet to apologise to his wife, who he married in 1998 aged just 21.

"You are the most incredible, inspirational woman I have ever met," he gushed.

"For the mistakes I have made in my life, I am sorry. Guess you have to go there to come back. It was a dark place and you were the light to bring me back. I love you."

Sadly, the union couldn't be saved and in April 2012, the couple confirmed their separation.

Yvonne moved on with cinematographer John Conroy and that September, Ronan went public with new love, TV producer Storm Uechtritz, who he met on The X Factor Australia.

They tied the knot almost seven years ago in a stunning Scottish ceremony and have since welcomed son Cooper, five, and two-year-old daughter Coco.

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