The Boyzone backing dancer who had an affair with frontman Ronan Keating has spoken for the first time about their romance, revealing the singer's wife confronted her in a furious phone call and urged her to break off the relationship.

The Irish singer split from Yvonne, the mother of his three children, in 2010 after his fling with Francine Cornell was revealed. The couple attempted to patch up its relationship, but the reconciliation attempt didn't work, and Keating moved out of the family home earlier this year (12).

Cornell has now given a candid interview about her affair with the pop star, revealing they first kissed during Boyzone's 2009 tour and subsequently began frequenting hotels together after the shows came to an end.

She claims Keating talked marriage with her during their fling, but was plagued by fears over their affair.

She tells British newspaper The Sun, "He loved her (Yvonne) dearly - she was the mother of his children - but he wasn't in love with her. Life on the road meant they'd led separate lives... He was the one who pursued me, most definitely, I made the mistake of falling for it and not having the strength to walk away... Once I asked, 'Do you think I'll still see your name on my phone in 20 years?' He said, 'In 20 years, we will be married.' At the time it was nice and I think it's what he believed."

Keating's wife soon tracked down her phone number and confronted her in a call, during which Yvonne urged her to end the affair.

The dancer explains: "She knew something was going on and she got hold of his phone records and called my number. From my voice mail she got my name - that's how she found out. Ronan tried to deny it at first... he then rang me and said, 'Yvonne knows'... (A few days later my phone rang) I answered it and (it was Yvonne)... She asked me if I loved Ronan and said she did too... There was never anything nasty said but she was really angry with Ronan."

The women later met up in London and Cornell promised not to contact Keating again as the couple attempted to rebuild its marriage.

Cornell adds, "She was lovely, really nice. We were there for a few hours, laughing together, crying together. We drank a couple of bottles of wine... She was assuring me that their marriage was on the mend and strong again. I told Yvonne I wouldn't contact him. Yvonne said, 'We're just two girls in love with the same boy.'"