Ronan Keating asked his friends to nickname him "MJ" because he was obsessed with Michael Jordan when he was younger.
The 40-year-old singer wanted his pals to call him the moniker because he idolised the basketball legend, and when he used to play soccer he wanted to be called "Schillaci" after famous Italian footballer Salvatore Schillaci, who top scored in the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
He said: "We moved house and I moved into this new area and I just wanted to be cool.
"I was playing soccer with the lads, and I wanted to be called Schillaci, so I told all the lads on the team to call me Schillaci."
But sadly for Ronan he didn’t get his nickname wish – his friends refrained from naming him after any famous footballers because all he used to do was stand on the side of the pitch.
Speaking on the ‘Magic Radio Breakfast Show’, which he co-hosts alongside Harriet Scott, he added: "I was a proud footballer! And they refused to call me anything ’cause I stood on the sidelines."
While Ronan wasn’t the best footballer as a youngster, he is hoping to get back into shape after landing his new radio job.
He recently said: "I’m up at four but I finish at 10 – I want to use the time to go to the gym every day, and get back in the best shape, that’s my goal.
"I’m only 40, that’s young enough to train hard, work hard."
Despite outlining his fitness outlook, the star – who has five-month-old son Cooper with wife Storm Keating, and Jack, 18, Missy, 16, and Ali, 12, from his first marriage to Yvonne Connolly – doesn’t have any plans to break into any extreme dance moves when he reunites on stage with Boyzone.
He said: "Look, we’re not kids any more. I don’t know about dancing – we’ll see how it goes."
Ronan and Harriet’s Breakfast Show airs weekday mornings from 6am-10am on Magic Radio.
Ronan Keating wanted Michael Jordan nickname
