Andrew Cowles, the civil partner of the late Stephen Gately, made his first public appearance tonight (5 November) since the singer's death.
PinkPaper.com is able to be the first to report that Cowles made a surprise appearance at the Stonewall Awards where he accepted Boyzone's accolade of entertainers of the year.
He said: "For those who don't know me, I am Andrew Cowles, Stephen Gately's husband. A few years ago Boyzone made pop music history by featuring a gay kiss in one of their videos. That was not a marketing stunt, it was simply a mark of respect for Stephen and his sexuality.
"I would like to take this opportunity to say how insensitive some of the press have been in their reporting of Stephen's death. In particular I would like to thank everybody who contacted the Press Complaints Commission about the Jan Moir Daily Mail article."
Cowles was greeted with rapturous applause.
Meanwhile Sarah Waters won writer of the year and Labour's Ben Bradshaw picked up the gong for MP of the year.