Ronan Keating rushes to Rick Astley's aid as The One Show halted

Ronan Keating leapt to the rescue of fellow chart-topper Rick Astley when he was hit by a severe coughing bout during their joint appearance on The One Show.

The musical pair featured on Friday night's (September 5) edition of the BBC show to chat about their enduring music careers.

Earlier in the programme, Rick could be heard spluttering whilst his sofa companion Ronan tackled speculation about a potential Boyzone comeback, with his condition deteriorating as the broadcast continued.

After Keating revealed he'd been overly serious about himself and his craft in his early days, hosts Lauren Laverne and JB Gill switched their attention to Rick to see if he shared similar experiences.

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"Can you connect with that Rick?" Lauren enquired, as he raspily replied: "I can yeah" whilst reaching for his glass of water, reports Wales Online.

"I'm just having a coughing fit actually," he revealed as he hunched forward on the sofa gripping his beverage, which prompted Ronan to dash over and gently rub his back whilst holding his arm in a supportive gesture.

"I'm fine," he maintained, joking that he was simply "getting emotional" about the Boyzone singer's tale, which drew chuckles from the presenters.

Nevertheless, as he attempted to continue answering their query, his voice remained hoarse and scratchy.

"I literally have just lost my voice," he admitted, as Ronan swiftly stepped in and offered him additional water.

Trying to complete his response without another coughing episode, he pressed on: "As you were saying having a song that means so much to you -" before being struck by another bout of coughing.

"I don't know what's happened to my voice," he expressed in a panicked tone, barely finishing his response.

"Alright we'll just let you get your voice back," co-host JB chimed in, while Lauren light-heartedly suggested: "You have a drink and a kick back."

Catch up with all episodes of The One Show on BBC iPlayer