![stephen_gately300x400[1]](https://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/2009/10/stephen_gately300x4001-320x240.jpg "stephen_gately300x400[1]")
The family of boybander Stephen Gately doesn’t want anyone thinking excessive drinking (or drugs) were involved in the 33-year-old’s death. Investigators are blaming acute pulmonary edema for the Boyzone singer’s death in Majorca, but even some are questioning whether that means “natural causes” were responsible. And if they weren’t? That doesn’t mean this story is without mystery. Throw in another dude into an evening of drinking with Gately and husband Andrew Cowles (pictured, L-R), and you’ve got all the markings of celeb sex scandal.
It’s time to start the “Were Gately and Cowles supposed to have a three-way when he died” meme!
The night Gately died, a one Georgi Dochev, 25, accompanied he and Cowles back to their room. While Gately stayed in the living room on the sofa (where his body was found), Cowles and Dochev retired to the bedroom. Scandal! Sun:
[The trio] had met on Friday night and were seen downing cocktails at The Black Cat gay club in Majorca’s capital Palma before taking a taxi to Stephen’s flat at Port Andratx. According to respected island newspaper Ultima Hora, cops believe Andy then went into the bedroom with the Bulgarian, while Stephen – who rarely drank and was wearing pyjamas – remained on the sofa.
The newspaper claimed: “What happened at the house has not been established, but the investigators have learned that, after a while, Andy retired to the bedroom with the Bulgarian, while Stephen stayed in the lounge, sat on the sofa. On Saturday morning, the singer’s husband and his friend got up late and at around 1pm left the bedroom. It was the Eastern European who found the singer dead.” The paper added that Georgi raised the alarm when he saw Stephen’s body was “cold”.
Because beautiful famous gays cannot even die without a delicious sexual sidebar to accompany the obit.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Mike
There is no scandal other than the one the tabloids are trying to create. The same tabloids that claimed he choked on his own vomit when he actually died of natural causes according to the autopsy.
“He died a natural death of acute pulmonary edema’ which had nothing to do with any consumption of alcohol or drugs, the spokeswoman in the Majorcan capital of Palma, said. A pulmonary edema can be due to either the failure of the heart to remove fluid from the lungs or direct damage to the lung tissue.”
But you’re doing exactly what he expect of you, Queerty.
That Burning Sensation
Scandalous? Only if he was a straight conservative.
Helen
Mike,
If you actually bother to do some research into a pulmonary edema, you will find that it could have been due to vomitting and therefore not being able to breathe.
I agree there is no scandal, and whatever the third man was doing in their apartment was their personal business. But seeing as you seem to be ridiculing people who take what they read at face value, you should make sure what YOU say is accurate too.
terrwill
The scandal is that the third wheel looks like a skeletal freakin’ meth addict………………that bitch fell from the tippy top ‘o the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down…………….
Mike
Helen, dear…if it had been from vomiting and the inability to breathe it would have been death by asphyxiation and not pulmonary edema. Pulmonary edema is related to the heart and it’s ability to remove liquid. If anything there is a better chance he died from the use of stimulants rather than chocking on his own vomit.
Orpheus_lost
What an incredible non-story.
:yawn:
Kyle24
glad to see that stephen and his husband were great role models for marriage. if you still want to sleep around then don’t get married!
GaryG
Can’t we just let someone rest in peace?
Erick
There is no scandal, do you even do any fact checking?
At this point is just a story in a Spanish tabloid with no confirmation and that of course the Sun would pick up and run the hell with it.
And even if it was true, what is scandalous about it? A 3 way is nothing new and we know that open relationships are quite common within the gay community.
You guys have mind of a 14 year old if you choose to pick up the most salacious element in a story that its probably not true.
Paul Mc
Kyle, no-one tells questions straights whether they will have an open relationship or not before allowing them to get married.
scott ny'er
honestly, what marriage is to one couple can mean sometime entirely for another. Marriage like most things in life in not so clear cut.
If there was a 3-way, kudos to them.
JJ Sullivan
This story is very sad and does not deserve the snark in these comments.
Gately came out as a proud gay man in 1999 when it was not an easy thing to do, especially for someone from working-class inner-city Dublin. Boyzone were/are huge in Ireland so his coming out, support from his bandmates and civil union with his partner did a lot to humanize gays in Catholic Ireland. Their video for “Better” this year was groundbreaking for pop boy bands in featuring Gately with a male love interest.
Further more, Mallorca is no banana republic. It is part of Spain where, unlike in the US, Gately’s husband was treated with respect and recognized as the legal decision-maker for his remains. He may have been just a pop singer but by all accounts he was nice guy who in his own way advanced gay issues for many of his fellow citizens.
Josh
Well if true it is sad that he died while his husband was having sex with another man in the bedroom.
I bet his husband feels pretty bad right now.
If it was meant to be a threesome why didn’t they check on Stephen since he never made it into the bedroom???
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@ Josh
THANK YOU.
Why haven’t you found the link that Stephens boyf used to beat him up??
No one from the UK here???
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
Thought I was going crazy..phew..
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/stephen-gately-attacked-by-his-.husband.
N.P.
@Mike: For what it’s worth, Helen’s posting is medically correct — pulmonary edema can indeed be caused by many things, including an upper airway blockage — the type that might be caused by aspirating vomit into the lungs. Don’t know if that is the case here, but it is definitely medically possible. Asphyxiation isn’t the only possibility in this situation.
David Russell
I wonder why a site that promotes itself as a gay news outlet would resort to slander, scandal and assumption in reporting on the tragic DEATH of a 33 year old entertainer.
Stephen Gately has no known history, public or otherwise, of drug abuse. The only facts we have are that he died of a pulmonary edema. All this speculation and innuendo about threesomes, drugs, alcohol and everything else are just cheap ploys to get people to read articles.
Furthermore, as many have stated above, what is so scandalous about a threesome!? I mean, really? These were 3 men in the 30’s who willingly entered in to WHAT EVER it was they did that evening. Having a threesome hardly resulted in anyone’s death.
Whoever wrote this article should be fired, and the editor of this “news” blog should do a better job of vetting his employees.
Utter crap.
Steve
David Russell – slow it down, queen.
Have you seen the main page of this blog? If you want “news,” to go cnn.com.
David Russell
Steve: I’m not sure I get what you’re suggesting? Where on the front page of this blog does it endorse slander, innuendo and gossip when relating to a piece about someone’s tragic death?
rudy
This post was worthy of Perez Hilton.
Only thing missing is a quote from Michael Lucas.
alan brickman
it’s too soon to tell….but the husband is hot…
LD
You know how conservative media protects it’s own members?
Maybe the gay media should do the same with our own.
Mike
Steve: We have every reason to be concerned about the methods Queerty uses. One of their workers was pulled onto CNN for their opinion on the pulse of the gay community v. Obama. It’s embarrassing to the community to have this site considered a source or a voice for what the community finds acceptable.
Papers in the UK are posting about how Stephen was a proud and tireless worker for gay equality and then a site like this is gonna focus on lies about him? Lies started by VERY conservative, anti-gay tabloids in the UK?
Earthlingdave
I completely agree. Queerty should NEVER be referenced as a legitimate source of news…. or anything for that matter. This site is a classless bitchy display of the worst gay stereotypes.
Let the man rest in peace.
Steff
I don’t think anything I could add to this would be more succinct than Mike’s comment.
Cowles_is_a_C*nt
“Lovely” hubby,Andrew Cowles, aswell as beating up Steven with fellow thug ;
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/stephen-gately-attacked-by-his-.husband.
the HEARTLESS SH!T had sex with this guest,Georgi Dochev, in the bedroom leaving Steven ALONE till lunch time the next day! No wonder Steven, being such a dumb romantic to stay with such a heartless monster, drunk himself senseless, as his husband cavorted with another man in front of his eyes in the club, the resulting excess alcohol consumed to ease his emotional romantic pain, causing him to choke on his own vomit ( alcohol inhibits gag reflex that preventing choking at such a level ie cause of a pulmonary oedema).The tragic reality BUT not the one the parents or fans can bear – NOTHING KILLS more certainly than STUPIDITY and brushing the ugly truth under the carpet for your own sentimental indulgence is not going to help people learn the lesson they could from this tragedy, we’ll just get more Cowles thinking they can treat their partners/other people like worthless sh!t + more Stevens being back boneless and letting men like Cowles get away with such behaviour, making obsequious excuses for the c*nt, instead of setting a precedent + dumping him as soon as he was SERIOUSLY beaten up by this THUG 🙁
Erick
@Cowles_is_a_C*nt: OMG! This post is even worse than the original post. inform yourself before posting would you.
The post mortem report is very clear:
He had consumed alcohol and cannabis, but he was not stoned or drunk, the levels on either DID NOT contribute to his death.
The liquid in his lungs WAS NOT vomit, it is a normal occurrence of what they believe actually caused his death, a heart attack. They only wanted more tests done because it is procedure, thats it.
His death is now attributed to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) caused by an undiagnosed heart condition that usually manifests as a heart attack.
The family now admits that there is a long history of heart problems and death in the family, it is assumed that inspite of that Gately never checked himself for it.
And, were you in the room? You have no idea what happened there and what arrangement this couple had and you are certainly no one to judge them.
Get over yourself. Seriously.
Cowles_is_a_C*nt
Strange the family “suddenly” mentioning it now, isn’t it – why not earlier? HOW MANY MORE SKELETONS have they got in their closet FFS? As if one can take any notice of people ( + so their ‘mouthpieces’ – his Mum was **GLAD** it was a heart problem, u would have thought the poor kids death would cause have caused more than enough concern to make such SHALLOW + SELF-CONCEITED concern about HOW he died to be irrelevant – but thats catholics for u, ALL HEART !( + extreme lack of independent rational/logic thinking ability)! 😀 ))) brainwashed by the SICK,TWISTED + RATIONALITY/LOGIC free cult known as CATHOLICISM who make statements of fact about the reason behind someone’s death ***BEFORE**** a FCUKING post mortem has even taken place!!!!I’m sorry but it sounds like U need to inform yourself about science and its foundation the scientific method, never mind even posting, – there are no certainties as U so arrogantly state only % of statistical probability, for one cannabis has much more study required before U can start making your dumb clueless statements.Genetic variability between individuals mean U can’t be SO certain what alcohol at a certain level will do to each. AND U also need some serious physiology lessons, VOMIT does not have to GET actually into the lungs, it merely blocks the trachea, which creates the “pulmonary oedema” from pressure rise and leaks fluid directly **INTO** the lungs. If U stopped being so pompous for a second you could have read the previous posts to find this is certainly a realistic medical possibility.
Notice that U completely neglect to comment on the IMMORAL INEXCUSABLE thuggish behaviour of Cowles resulting in Gately’s lack of self worth + servile desperation for love at any price
Neither were U in the room, U just enjoy being a pompous A*SE, given that Cowles potentially can care so little for his partner with such EXTREME violence (whether through extreme emotion or not, the legal or ethics law vilifies such behaviour), my speculation is merely based on a potential of such an OBNOXIOUS character trait !
+ even if your version *is* true, that he didn’t get himself checked regularly himself i say again;
“NOTHING KILLS more certainly than STUPIDITY ”
a kid jumping off a cliff or climbing high voltage electric pylons is hardly tragic – its BLOODY STUPID – its HOW EVOLUTION works for species survival!
tony, Blackpool, UK
There is a rise in stories wanting to hear about the more saucy aspects of events. As soon as I heard on the news ‘reports of a possible third man at the apartment’ I instinctively knew this was part of a threesome pickup at a local gay bar. It seems Andrew is consolable… why? For romping around in the bedroom with the Bulgarian while his partner is drowning on the sofa? I’m gay myself, but I think the whole notion of gay guys picking other guys up for 3way sex is seedy and gives the rest of us in The Fabulous Federation a bad name.
And STOP using the term ‘husband’…. its homophobic, derrogatory and wrong… this term is exclusively reserved for heterosexuals under the Marriage Act. We queers had to make do with a ‘civil partnership’ which was a watered down version of ‘marriage’. The correct term is Civil Partner.
Rob Moore
There is much speculation about the circumstances inside the apartment here amongst the commentators above, but since little actual evidence has been released, it amounts to nothing more than rumour-mongering. Some of you deny that anything remotely sordid could have been going on while others are just as adamant that it was all a result of debauchery by someone. Each viewpoint represents two sides of the same speculative coin.
The beating inflicted by Mr. Cowles on his partner is well-documented and disturbing to me, but not connected to this tragic death. He is quite a handsome man, but that does not mean he is not also an ill-tempered, violent lout.
I never understand the attacks on Queerty. If Queerty is so poor as a source of information, why, pray tell, are all of you critics regulars on this site? I see your posts everywhere, so you must not dislike Queerty so much that you stay away. I don’t care for Perez Hilton’s web site or his personal aggrandisement so I don’t visit his site. I do, however, have to agree with post No. 4. I hope that is a really old picture, but he does remind me of some of the rentboys, I have seen at a couple of the gay bars.
tim
It is so evident that the only plausible sequence of events that would have found him in that situation goes like this:-
Gately and Cowles bring a guy back from a night club. Whether it was the intention of both of them to have sex with him or just one of them cannot be immediatley clear.
Gately, either before or after Cowles and the guy depart for the bedroom, falls asleep on the sofa and then sometime later sadly chokes to death after vomitting.
The next morning the random guy gets up out of bed to have a cigarette or get a drink and finds Gately dead on the sofa.
It would be my opinions therefore that they:-
1)had an open relationship
2)The sexual liason only occurred between Cowles and the one night stand. Any other explanation does not fit the known facts.
The sad end result is that whether he was ok with his husbands exploits or not, Gately died alone while his husband was in bed with another man in the next room.
Enough to dent my hopes of happy ever after in the world of gay relationships where anonymous sex is as available as mcdonalds.
tim
ps -I’m gay – so don’t start with the homophobia nonsense. I’m just being honest and realistic.
Gossip Girl
I cannot believe that some here find Andrew Cowles someone fit to fuck!
Guys, sexual liberation means drawing a distinction between a nice pair of pecs and an absolute bastard. OK, I know, you all like to be dominated.
Look at it simply. Where, when my partner and I went through the ceremony and signed did the register and say you’ll look after each other, but you’re are exempt if you are fucking a twink in the next bedroom? NINE hours guys from when Steven died until the Bulgarian pimp found the body.
If you want to screw, don’t get married. There’s nothing wrong in that. Most men listen to their dick rather than their heart.
It’s been too hard a fight to get marriage accepted, and in the U.S. it’s an ongoing battle. If you want a pet get a dog, not a wife. Fuck it if you must. These celeb wankers, and I include Stephen Fry and Elton John among them, are putting us back years.
PS: I was fighting for my rights as gay man when Elton was pretending to be straight.
Gossip Girl
CORRECTION: I am so angry with the guy leaving his aprtner to die like that!
I cannot believe that some here find Andrew Cowles someone fit to fuck!
Guys, sexual liberation means drawing a distinction between a nice pair of pecs and an absolute bastard. OK, I know, you all like to be dominated.
Look at it simply. Where, when my partner and I went through the ceremony and we signed the register, did it say you commit to look after each other exceptt when you’re fucking a twink in the next bedroom? NINE hours guys from when Steven died until the Bulgarian pimp found the body.
If you want to screw, don’t get married. There’s nothing wrong in that. Most men listen to their dick rather than their heart.
It’s been too hard a fight to get marriage accepted, and in the U.S. it’s an ongoing battle. If you want a pet get a dog, not a wife. Fuck it if you must. These celeb wankers, and I include Stephen Fry and Elton John among them, are putting us back years.
PS: I was fighting for my rights as gay man when Elton was pretending to be straight.
Chris rygel
Hi. Norway here. Well, we dont know if Stephen was ok whit it. But we will never know that. We realy dont know the tru eather. But what i have read, sonthing here is wrong. How could Andrew go to a beedrom whith another gay. If it was the plan for 3 some, it should be that. I think this Andrew have to live whit thise. I cant understand that anyone would like his civil partner to go into a rom whit another boy when like Stephen also where there. That would hurt to much. And why would Andrew have sex whit an not nice looking gay? Stephen was nice looking. I feel something is wrong here. And so sad fore Stephen to sleep away maybe knowing his lover had sex whit Bulgarian boy. Im not shore about this Stephen, he have done some bad thing Whit Stephen before. agree, no 13, 26, 31.