Jan Moir has expressed regret over her Daily Mail column on late Boyzone star Stephen Gately, while maintaining that aspects of his death were “sleazy”.

But she insists that there was nothing homophobic in the column, published on the day before the singer’s funeral.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) received more than 21,000 complaints about the piece, which called Gately’s death “strange, lonely and troubling”.

“I regret any affront caused,” writes Moir in her latest Mail column.

She goes on to apologise to Gately’s family and friends for any distress caused by her column’s “insensitive timing”.

However, the writer stands by her earlier assertion that the circumstances surrounding his death were “more than a little sleazy”.

She also maintains there was “nothing natural” about his demise on 11 October, but claims her remarks have been “misinterpreted”.

“What I meant by ‘nothing natural’ was that the natural duration of his life had been tragically shortened in a way that was shocking and out of the ordinary.

‘Over-reaction’

“Absolutely none of this had anything to do with his sexuality.”

Moir faced particular censure for suggesting that Gately’s death had struck a blow to the “happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships”.

In her follow-up column, though, she insists there was “nothing in my article that could not be applied to a heterosexual couple as well as to a homosexual one”.

According to the PCC, Moir’s column provoked the most complaints ever made about a single newspaper article.

In Friday’s Daily Mail, however, the writer suggests that the “hysterical over-reaction” was part of “an orchestrated campaign”.

Her column, she continues, was “generally and gleefully accepted into folklore as a homophobic rant”.

According to Moir, though, she received “thousands of supportive emails” from readers who felt it “perfectly reasonable” for her to comment on Gately’s death.

Celebrities, friends and family gathered in Dublin last Saturday for the singer’s funeral.

Among them was X Factor judge Louis Walsh, who absented himself from the ITV1 show to attend the ceremony.

According to the show’s creative director, though, Walsh will be back this weekend to resume his duties.

“Louis is definitely going to be back,” said Brian Friedman. “We’ve been talking about his song choices and I think they’re really good.”