PHWOAR & ORDER
After a year-long break from pop, Westlife are back and in our custody. Boys, your particulars please…
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By Gemma Calvert
NAMES: NICKY BYRNE, 31 ; MARK FEEHILY, 29; SHANE FILAN, 3O; KIAN EGAN, 29
OCCUPATION: SINGERS
Ooooh boys, you’re a very arresting sight today! Have you ever had a brush with the law in real life?
Kian: When I was 18 I came out of a nightclub and kicked a beer bottle along the road. I was stopped and thrown in to a police van for it. At the station, I was like: “Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir,” and was released. Arrested for kicking a bottle? I couldn’t believe it.
Mark: Six years ago I went to a Prince concert in Dublin. I got drunk at the after-party, and on the way out I threw a glass against the wall. Three policemen were watching and if my driver hadn’t explained that I’m not normally like that, I’d have been arrested.
Shane: I’ve been stopped for speeding a few times. Every time I see a policeman I get nervous, but I honestly don’t drive that fast. In fact, my wife always tells me to speed up!
Nicky: I’ve got points on my licence for speeding, but I’m a good boy – I’ve never been arrested.
You’re just back from a year off, so what have you boys been up to?
Mark: I’ve been travelling the world with my boyfriend Kevin [McDaid, 25]. We went to loads of places, including India and Bali. Normally I only get to see the inside of hotels and airports, so it was amazing! Now I want to go again.
Shane: I’ve been having a normal life – going to the gym, playing football and golf, and going to the pub on a Friday night for a few pints. All stuff I never get to do in the band.
Kian: I’ve had the best year and the worst year, really. I got married to Jodi [former Hollyoaks actress Jodi Albert, 26] in Barbados in May, but it was tough as my dad Kevin was too ill to be there. He had cancer and sadly died in July.
Nicky: I loved being a proper dad, up at 7am and playing all day with my two-year-old twin boys, Rocco and Jay. I cherished it. It’s been so hard going back to work.
While you’ve been away, a new singing foursome has emerged in the form of JLS. Do you remember your days as a new band when you were wild and single?
Kian: Oh yes. We got carried away on our second tour in 2002 and got a telling off from our management about the partying we were doing. They thought we were on the razz every night – and we were! We lost the reins a bit, but we got back on track.
Mark: It was a fantastic time, but I was struggling with my sexuality, so I wouldn’t want to go back there. I’m much happier since I came out.
The time off has certainly done you good and you’re looking hotter than ever. Can we expect some JLS-style torso flashing soon?
Shane: Maybe in the future! I started going to the gym a year ago, so I’m the fittest I’ve ever been in my life.
Nicky: If the right offer came along for a topless shot, I’d do it.
Mark: It would take a lot for me to do that. It’s not in my personality – I’m too conscious of my body!
But Mark, you’ve lost nearly 2st through healthy eating and exercise – don’t you feel more confident now?
I’ve lost weight but I’m still not 100 per cent confident. I’m moving in the right direction slowly but surely…
So who’s the vainest?
Nicky: Mark’s edging it at the minute. He’s making up for lost ground because for years he didn’t care.
Mark: When we started out I just wanted to be a singer. I never aspired to be on a magazine cover and I never went to the gym. I was always uncomfortable during photo shoots because I didn’t like the way I looked. Now I’m exercising and eating better, I look at pictures of myself and love them.
Kian: Nicky’s the fussiest about his look in photographs, Mark about the style of pictures, Shane about his pose and me about the clothes.
Shane: We’re worse than women because we’re so used to getting our hair and make-up done!
And like us girls, are you in touch with your emotions?
Kian: I cry at every type of movie. Why did anyone even make Marley & Me? I watched it on a plane around the time my dad was sick and cried for half an hour. It was so surreal.
From tears to tantrums. When did you last blow a gasket?
Shane: I only argue with my wife when I’m hungry, so if we’re going into town and I’m starving, it’s dangerous. We have good fun making up though.
Mark: London traffic always makes me mad.
Nicky: When Man United lost to Liverpool recently, I threw my cardboard cup at the telly. I was with my tour manager who’s a Liverpool fan and she was rubbing it in. I lose my temper quickly.
We noticed! You swore like a trooper during our shoot.
Nicky: I was just acting it out. I enjoyed being arrested by Fabulous. I haven’t been handcuffed in a while – and no, I can’t remember the last time!
Nicky, you’re making us blush. So how do you keep things hot with your wife Georgina, 30, after 15 years together?
You’ve got to keep things spicy and sexy. Dinner dates are exciting. When I see Georgina getting ready, my stomach still flips. It’s cool to get dolled up for a night knowing we can cuddle up when we get home. I reckon babysitters should do the morning after, too!
And Shane, you’ve also been with your wife Gillian, 30, since you were teenagers. What’s your secret?
Gillian is the perfect woman. It’s not hard to keep romance alive when I feel like that. We sit down at night and watch 24 or West Wing and those two hours are so important. We hug and kiss each other a lot. It’s just the way I like it.
Mark, are you planning to marry your boyfriend, Kevin?
One day. Our old band mate Brian [McFadden, 29] set the wedding ball rolling eight years ago and now everyone in the band is married apart from me. But I won’t do it because they all have – I’ll do it because I want to.
Do girls still proposition you, even though you’re gay?
I still get female attention, letters and rude banners at concerts – which we love by the way!
Your fans are quite obsessive. What’s the weirdest thing they’ve done?
Nicky: The concert banners started off innocent years ago, but they’re now really provocative! One said: “Shane f*** me”; another read: “Nicky you make my knickers xxxxxx.” It’s too rude to say, too gross!
Kian: A girl in her 20s moved from northern Europe to my hometown. I’d pull up outside my house at midnight and she’d be stood there. I didn’t go to the police, but politely told her to get a life.
Let’s turn the tables for a moment. Who would you stalk if you were invisible?
Nicky: The other three members of the band to see what they’re saying behind my back. We’re open, but there’s always a little bitch to be had.
Shane: Me too. I’d love to be a fly on the wall and listen to their conversation, and also to our manager Louis Walsh talking to Simon Cowell. That would be interesting.
Kian: Eavesdropping on conversations doesn’t interest me. I’d go to the darkest deepest holes of the world to see what was going on down there.
Mark: I’d sneak around and freak people out. I love those hidden camera shows where old ladies get screamed at by people hiding in bushes.
Who’s your dream celebrity dinner-party guest?
Shane: Tiger Woods, I’d love to meet him for a pint.
Kian: The surfer Kelly Slater. He has the lifestyle I dream of – being paid to surf every day. If I have another year off, I’m getting my surfboard and going away.
Mark: Lady GaGa. She’s got a voice like Amy Winehouse and the stage presence of Madonna. I understand why people find her weird, but I love things that shock people.
Nicky: Sandra Bullock. She’s quite sexy. For years it used to be Liz Hurley for me – that posh, good-looking, elegant, sexy woman thing. It probably still is Liz Hurley, actually. But I must add that I’m very happily married!
Westlife’s album Where We Are is out November 30.
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN WRIGHT GROOMING: TIM PATEMAN AT PHAMOUS STYLING: CAMILLA DENNO HAIR & MAKE-UP FOR MODELS: JO BULL AT MODELS 1 STYLING FOR MODELS: LUCIE CLIFFORD MODELS: LINA AND KIMBERLEY AT NEVS STYLIST’S ASSISTANT: KELECHI AMADI MODELS WEAR: SHIRTS, AUSTIN REED; SKIRTS, ASOS; HATS, COSTUME STUDIO; HANDCUFFS, THEME TRADERS; BRAS, LA SENZA; TIGHTS, ARISTOC; SHOES, DUNE
Credit/Source: www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/fabulous
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We have new gorgeous pictures of Mark and Kev from last night – taken at Mariah Carey’s party in Lodnon!
