It’s not everyday you see a gay couple in a mainstream pop video. Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful springs to mind, as does Madonna’s Justify My Love and Pet Shop Boys’ Being Boring – now Boyzone’s Better can be added to that list.

Boyzone originally wanted to make a video where each member appeared being intimate with their own partners. The only problem was that none of their other halves would agree to it – so they were replaced with actors.

Stephen Gately is the gay member of the group. He came out in 1999 and is currently in a civil partnership. In the clip the other Boyzone members are paired up with girls, and he is paired up with a guy.

Gately told Newsbeat, “I don’t think I could have done this video without having a guy in the video. I think it’s important for me to be true to myself.

“The lads were saying, ‘You’ve got to do this’. They were pushing… That’s why I went for it.

“For me, it’s just me being me and I don’t think there should be a real big issue about the whole thing anyway. I just think it’s just a beautiful video and I think it works superbly for the song. I’m hoping this video will have a good, positive, all-round reaction.”

Boyzone have just released their greatest hits album Back Again… No Matter What.

Watch the video here: