That Awkward Moment When Ronan Keating Headbutted Pope Benedict XVI


In a classic awkward moment, Ronan Keating, Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter and musician, has just admitted to headbutting Pope Benedict XVI. Apparently he really didn’t know how to handle the necessary protocols and simply headbutted the holy man’s hand instead.

Keating, 37, explained how he met the Pope back in 2011 after a performance at the Vatican. The 37-year-old said they had just finished the performance and he was then part of a queue of people, lining up to meet and greet the Pope. Keating said they did inform them of all the various protocols and what they were supposed to do when they met Pope Benedict XVI, but he got confused.

“I was so mixed up, by the time that I got to him that he got to me, I had no idea what to do, whether I was supposed to kiss his hand or the papal ring.”

“I got so confused that I just thought I’ll just headbutt his hand.”

And headbutt his hand he did indeed, reckons the Hamilton Spectator. According to Keating, the Pope, who resigned back in 2013, didn’t actually make any fuss about the incident. He said while it was one awkward moment that he personally will never forget, the Pope didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know if he speaks very good English, he kind of just looked at me and moved on.”

Speaking of the awkward moment, he said he was actually thinking a fist pump might have been better, adding, “You can never take the Dublin out of the fella.”

The interview with Keating can be heard in the video below.

The Daily Mail reports Keating and his girlfriend Storm Uechtritz recently said they are planning to have a baby. Keating met Uechtritz in 2010 when he was appearing on X Factor and she was a producer of the show.

The former Boyzone star is already father to three children with his former wife, Yvonne – Jack, 15, Missy, 13 and 9-year-old Ali – and is apparently planning to spend more time with the children. He apparently won’t return to Australia for this year’s X Factor and will be spending more time in the U.K. and Ireland in future. The couple apparently flew to the U.K. last year and will be focusing on his acting career. Hopefully there will be no more awkward moments in their future together.

In other Irish awkward moment news, the Inquisitr recently reported that a pub in Galway is bribing its customers to stay off their cellphones. In an attempt to cure what it calls the “epidemic of over-usage,” the landlord is offering a free drink to any customer who allows them to put their phones in a lock box for 30 minutes.

[Image credits: Ronan Keating Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic vagueonthehow. Pope Benedict XVI CC by-SA Torvindus]

Share this article: That Awkward Moment When Ronan Keating Headbutted Pope Benedict XVI
More from Inquisitr