David Furnish is still struggling to come to terms with the death of Stephen Gately - he can't bear to delete the late star's number from his cell phone.

The Boyzone singer died in Majorca, Spain in October 2009 after suffering a build-up of fluid on the lungs, aged 33. But David can't believe the Irishman has passed away, and still expects to hear from his pal.

He says, "When I think of Stephen now I just think of pure goodness. At my 40th birthday party I sat him next to my mother. Now you're always careful about who you seat beside your mother, but I knew Stephen would charm the pants off her. And I was right.

"One of the cruelest aspects of his death was that I'm sure his greatest achievements were yet to come. He was devoted to the theatre, and I believe he'd just landed a role in Jersey Boys, which was a show he loved. Plus Boyzone were going back into the studio. He had it all in front of him. At least he died at a happy time in his life; I suppose there's some solace in that. But I still can't believe he's not here. I can't take his number off my phone. I keep expecting one of those cheery texts to come through."

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