The Bulgarian man who found Boyzone singer Stephen Gately’s “white” and “cold” body says he has been unable to sleep since the discovery.
Gately, 33, died on Saturday while on holiday on the Spanish island of Majorca with long-term partner Andy Cowles.
The cause of Gately’s death has not been established, but his family has rejected claims he was on an eight-hour drinking binge.
Gately and Cowles had been partying at gay nightclub Black Cat in the early hours of Saturday morning, when they met Bulgarian GeorgiDochev, London’s The Times reported.
The three returned to Gately and Cowles’s luxury holiday apartment, and Dochev woke to find Gately slumped on a sofa about 1pm, it said.
Dochev told the Daily Mail: “I almost have not slept since this happened.
“I found Stephen dead and I woke his husband. Stephen was white and very cold when I found him. I am still nervous and really upset.”
According to the Mail, unofficial reports have said Gately choked on his own vomit after drinking heavily.
But Gately’s family rejected such accounts.
“An eight-hour drinking session is something we do not accept,” family lawyer Gerald Kean told The Times.
“Wherever that is coming from, our information would suggest that is simply wrong.”
Members of the family had spoken with Gately shortly before his last night out, and he was healthy and “in great shape”, Mr Kean said.
“We are not saying he was not drinking, but eight hours is not something we accept.
“He was a very sensible man. He enjoyed himself, he loved life. I was with him many a night and, if anything, late into nights he would look as though he had just arrived.”
Police have said there were no signs of violence or drugs in the apartment, and no evidence of a suicide note, the Mail said.
Boyzone bandmates Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham flew to Majorca on a private jet on Sunday night.
They have said they were “completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen”.
