Wild Youth frontman Conor O'Donoghue said he had a "lovely" interaction with former Sex Pistol John Lydon following RTE's Eurosong special, dismissing rumours of tension between the two acts.
The Dublin band were crowned as Ireland's Eurovision bid last Friday after impressing audiences with their single "We Are One". The group will head to host city Liverpool this May to compete in the competition's first round of semi-finals.
Conor, the band's vocalist, said that the atmosphere backstage on the night was far from tense. He also dismissed allegations that there was a rift between his band and fellow entrant John Lydon, who aggravated some fans by quipping the competition as "phoney" in a radio interview.
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Conor told Dublin Live: "He had been quoted as saying that he disliked Eurovision, but he was joking. All I said in response to being asked for a comment was that someone else would bite their hand off to be in a position to enter the competition."
Conor added that he went on to have a "lovely" conversation with the British singer-songwriter at the end of the night, who later clarified that his remarks on RTE were intended as humour. He praised the 67-year-old for dedicating his performance to his wife Nora, who has been living with Alzeimher's since 2018.
Conor says:"I congratulated him because I thought it was amazing that he dedicated a song to his wife, who is quite ill. It was a very hard thing to do but it was brilliant."
Wild Youth have a busy few months ahead before they set off for Liverpool. Conor and his fellow bandmates Ed Porter, David Whelan and Callum McAdam will shoot a music video in the run up to the competition.
He says that the band were "buzzing" following their victory on Friday night. The group have their sights firmly set on representing Ireland to the best of their ability.
Conor also revealed that the group will have the chance to jet off to different cities to perform in front of smaller crowds. Many Eurovision acts participate in the special tour, which will feature in cities such as Amsterdam, Tel Aviv and Barcelona.
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