90s pop legend Kavana has revealed that he received a ‘lifetime ban’ from Loose Women following his disastrous appearance on the lunchtime chat show back in 2007

90s pop legend Kavana has revealed that he received a ‘lifetime ban’ from Loose Women for his backstage behaviour(Image: Dave Benett/WireImage)

90s pop legend Kavana has revealed that he received a ‘lifetime ban’ from Loose Women for his backstage behaviour. The pop star, whose real name is Anthony Gerard Kavanagh, joined the lunchtime ladies in 2007 for a chat and a live performance, but admitted that it didn’t exactly go to plan, and he was not allowed back on the ITV chat show after that.

The singer, 47, who is best known for his Top 10 hit I Can Make You Feel Good, told fans in his new memoir Pop Scars all about his struggles with addiction during the height of his fame and admitted that he can barely remember his live performance from that time.

He wrote: “I can’t remember much of my ‘performance’ on Loose Women apart from the odd flashback, which every time one comes, I slug a mouthful of beer at the harrowing thought. When someone, especially your new TV and theatre agent, leaves you a voicemail at 10am saying it’s urgent, it’s usually not the best news, is it?”

The pop star shot to fame in the 1990s and has now opened up about his struggles (Image: Getty Images)

Recalling the conversation with his agent that took place afterwards, Kavana says he was told: “I’m afraid they’re not happy with you. They have given you a lifetime ban on Loose Women. You can never go on again.”

Kavana also recalled that bosses of the ITV chat show were not impressed with the way he had ‘scarpered’ off set for 15 minutes whilst studio employees rushed around trying to find him, locating him in a local pub with just minutes to go until he was due on air. He also revealed that producers were alarmed when he pressed then-panellist Carol McGiffin for details of her sex life.

He added that his agent said: “You then had to be escorted off the premises and helped into the car by the driver, who, by the way, nearly didn’t agree to take you, due to you being so drunk. You then insisted he reroute the booking and take you all the way to Soho and drop you there!”

Kavana has spoken candidly about his personal struggles in his new memoir (Image: ITV)

Earlier this year, Kavana made an appearance on fellow ITV Daytime show Lorraine, where he spoke of a lack of awareness surrounding ‘mental health’ at the time he shot to fame.

Speaking to stand-in host Christine Lampard, Kavana explained: “A memoir can be about anything, and although it does talk about fame, it’s a lot about what happens after fame to someone,” he began.

“It starts when I’m 18, and talks about my journey, my rollercoaster through 90s pop.” Speaking of that “rollercoaster”, Kavana addressed the “dark times” he faced.

He said: “In those days, late 90s, there was no talk about mental health, we didn’t have a word for stuff like that, or bulimia, I’m not saying I struggled very much with that but I was very conscious with how I looked, and also I was in the closet and hiding my sexuality, I didn’t have any advice on what to say or what not to say.

“For me, because I didn’t know it at the time but I am an alcoholic, I found alcohol which was medicine. It completely took away any fear, any anxiety, it became my boyfriend, it became my medicine, and it worked for a long, long time.”

Addressing viewers, he then urged anyone struggling with alcohol to seek help, saying: “Three years ago before I got sober, I would have to drink, not because I wanted to get drunk, not because I wanted to have fun, but because I needed it as important as oxygen to get through the day.

“If anyone is watching this, there is help out there. I’d say my DMs are open, I can try and give some advice but there is help. Speak to somebody, don’t be ashamed, because once I surrendered, that’s when the light got in. And I’ve been trying to write this for 10 years and it wasn’t until I got sober that it happened.”