Westlife are in this week Bella Magazine (dated: July 8th) and Joanne has typing it up for us. Thank you Joanne.

The gorgeous Westlife guys have penned a tell - all book. Bella cosied up to them to find out more....

Shane Filan

Shane Filan, 29, is married to Gillian, the cousin of band mate Kian, Their daughter Nicole Rose is nearly three and Gillian is pregnant with their second baby.....

Are you still in touch with Brian (Mcfadden, Kerry Katona's ex husband?)

We're still in touch but we don't see him that regularly - maybe every three or four days months.

We're not close, like we used to be , and obviously we're doing, completely different things on the opposite side of the world.

What do you think about all the press he and Kerry have been getting...?

Having your marriage break up is a mssive deal anyway but to have it splashed over the papers is sore for anyone and especially when there are kids involved. Hopefully they can work everything out.

Do you think Brian would ever rejoin the band???

I don't think we would ever perform with him again, I dont think he'd want to and we wouldnt want to... He made the decision to leave.

You are going to be a dad again soon././.

My wife is expecting our second child in September. We dont know what we are having, as we wanted a surprise.We dont mind either way.

Is Nicole a daddy's girl??

She is a "whoever gives her sweets girl". Shes so full of life - she is an eight year old in a two year old's body. She has just started calling me Shane. She will say "Shane, listen to me "and im like,"My name is Daddy" I dont know ill stop that

Nicky Byrne

Nicky Byrne will be celebrating the big 3-0 in October. He and his wife Georgina have twin one year old boys, Rocco and Jay.

You have been on the road for 10 years now, Do you ever get annoyed with each other.????

Of course, were like four fellas in a house in college who row over stupid things like for example a tin of beans...

Have any of you ever comes to blows??

One time when we were in Asia Mark and Kian had a fight in the back of a car. They just started kicking each other. Another time myself and Kian were shouting at each other, when we were about to gte on a plane, and the air hostess had to step in and say "Come on boys"..


Are your boys like you at all

Rocco looks like me and they have both got georginas eyes. Rocco is more outgoing. They have completely different chartacters which is great .

You are all taking a year off.Are you planning on spending it with your family??]

We will probably head to our house in portugal and take a well earned break. It will be great to have more time with the twins. Georgina will probably kick me out of bed to do the night time checks, although ive been pretty good.

Kian Egan

Kian Egan, 28, is engaged to ex-Hollyoasks actress Jodi Albert. The couple co own a juice bar in Sligo. Kian has also helped out Louis Walsh on the XFactor.

Are you involved with the X Factor this year?

I haven't spoken to Louis about this yet. I wouldnt normally know at this stage and they are changing the format a bit this year. If he asks me to do it I will. But if he doesn't i wont be offended.

Have you ever written a song for Jodi

I wrote her a song for her years ago for Valentines dat but I dont think ill write one for her for the wedding. It might be abit cheesy!.

Are you going to use your year out to plan your wedding???

We have been thinking about travelling and trying to find a wedding location. We are the marrying kind. The UK is great but we want to do something different and more intimate.

Mark Feehily

Mark Feehily,28,came out three years ago. He is in a relationship with former V singer Kevin Mcdaid.

Do you look back on your decision to come out as a special moment??

I was unable to be myself before - my character was supressed and I held alot of myself in. I was very inexperienced and it took me a while to realise that being yourself is the most important thing. It has made me stronger and happier.

You have been with your partner Kevin for three and a half years. Would you consider tying the know??

It seems to me we only talk about it when others do - it is not something that crops up naturally in terms of our realtionship. Nicky and Georgina were togethe nine years before they got married.


Were the fans supportive when you announced you were gay??

There were only a couple who took it to far and got upset. For them you can never do anything right, but there weren't very many.

Do you think you have inspired others??

I get a lot of letter from young gay lads who say my story helped them. And i get some people coming up to me saying the same, and that is more rewarding than anything....

Westlife our story is out now

Credit/Source: Bella Magazine / Joanne

Edited by Debbie McGoldrick

WE’RE sitting in a lovely hotel room at the Gleneagle in Killarney, Co. Kerry on Sunday evening while we pen this, and while the view outside is spectacular, the Irish boyband Westlife is polluting the tranquility with their brand of “music” at an outdoor concert in the town which can be heard from miles away. Ugh! Though millions of fans around the world will disagree, we’re oh so thankful they never made it in the one market that counts head and shoulders above the rest – America, of course! . . .

WHAT else is going on around here? Relatives and friends who would know say the economy is tanking, the price of EVERYTHING is sky-high ($125 to fill a car with gas, anyone?), and the weather in the south stinks . . . but make no mistake, there’s no place else we’d rather be! Killarney is pulsing with life and craic thanks to a weekend Irish music festival, the food, as usual, is way too good (especially the greasy takeaway fries), and there’s always plenty to see and do, especially if you’re traveling with an eighty-something Kerry aunt who seems to know everybody in the county, even though she’s been gone for more than 50 years!

Credit/Source: irishabroad.com

Boyband Westlife will be returning to the Summer Pops on Sunday for a one-off special show.

Westlife have chosen to finish their current UK tour at the first night of this year's Liverpool Summer Pops.

Band member Shane Filan said; "It's great to be coming back to the Pops, it’s become almost a tradition for us now, this will be our fourth Pops show. The Liverpool fans are always really up for it, and we get a great reaction, we look forward to putting on a very special show for the fans."

On Tuesday for the first time singer-songwriter, Mick Hucknall, is stepping out from Simply Red, and has announced a Summer Pops show in support of his debut solo studio album 'Tribute To Bobby.'

And on Wednesday Grammy Award winner Meat Loaf will be bringing the biggest tunes, the biggest noise and the biggest voice to this year's Summer Pops.

The UK's most successful girl band, Sugababes, will be returning to the Summer Pops along with legendary ABBA tribute, Bjorn Again on Thursday.

On Friday The Australian Pink Floyd Show will perform two classic albums and a ‘fans request’ set.

Credit/Source: www.chesterchronicle.co.uk

HUNDREDS of Westlife fans queued for hours in O’Connell Street, Sligo to see their pop idols when they appeared at Eason’s to sign copies of their autobiography Our Story on Friday afternoon.

Singer Shane Filan said: “Getting the book published has been fantastic for us as it really documents the life we have had as Westlife over the last decade. It’s been mental and manic!” he laughed.

And talking about the band’s longevity in the notoriously fickle pop industry he said: “It’s been amazing to have the success we have had over the last ten years. We were delighted to have had just one year, but to have ten was unimaginable. Every year since has been a bonus.

“We plan on just chilling out completely for the next 12 months; we want to have a total rest from music. We are not splitting up, were just taking a break.

“We want to play in Sligo again in the future and in Croke Park again too. We just want to sustain the success we have had.”

The book signing tour has seen the band signing copies of their autobiography in Easons stores in Dublin, Belfast and Sligo.

That didn’t stop a Dublin fan travelling all the way to Sligo. She told me: “I love Shane and Nicky so I just shout at them ‘Shnicky’. I even have it on my T-shirt.

“I could open my own Westlife museum with all the things I have collected over the years. I have books, CDs, magazines, dolls, mugs, keyrings, DVDs, videos, downloads. It’s costs me a fortune but it’s worth it because I love them so much.”

And, closer to home, a Mayo woman revealed why she was in the queue by 1am. Sabina Henry, from Swinford, said: “I camped out from 1am this morning to make sure I was at the top of the queue. I slept in a doorway with a blanket. I really couldn’t miss the opportunity to meet the lads. Westlife have done so well and music can give you so much joy

“My mum and son came to join me this morning. My son Marcus absolutely loves Westlife and I believe he is going to be a famous singer one day, maybe like Shane Filan.

“I used to sing to him when I was pregnant and I think that’s where he got it from. For a baby this young to be singing is unheard of !”

Credit/Source: www.sligoweekender.ie

THE biggest pop band in the land, Westlife have defied the odds of the genre's life expectancy, simply because no new upstarts have been able to come along and topple them from their throne.

While they may have fun poked at them for their cheesy dance routines, those clichéd ballad stool sessions and their lack of cool in an indie-dominated world, the fact is that 10 years after Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh first got their signatures on the dotted line Nicky Byrne, Kain Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan are collectively still the biggest and the best at what they do.

Their 10th anniversary celebration concert earlier this month saw them pack out the fourth biggest arena in Europe, the 83,300 capacity Croke Park; their autobiography, Westlife – Our Story, released a week later, will shift copies by the lorryload, and who knows how many fans will be wearing their perfume, X (Get it? The Roman numeral) to mark the their decade milestone.

The boys are at Home Park tomorrow night. Simply to have survived where others have fallen by the wayside – Blue, Busted, SClub7 and B*Witched, to name but a few – is remarkable. They're twice as old as Take That were when they called it a day first time around, and three times as old as Wham! when George and Andrew went their separate ways.

With a cool 40 million record sales worldwide under their collective belts, they've also scored 14 number one UK singles; that's not quite as many as front runners 'King' Elvis and The Beatles, but an equal tally with third-placed Sir Cliff: not bad going in the overall scheme of things.

A good example of their popularity came a couple of Christmases ago when the race for sales saw U2, The Beatles and Oasis all offering failsafe greatest hits packages. Westlife brought out a new collection of ballad covers and pipped all the others to the post.

Their rockiest moment was probably in 2004, when arguably the most popular (and certainly well-known) band member Bryan McFadden branched out on his solo career. The others thought (along with their fans) that it was probably all over, but soon regrouped and stormed back, for the first time clinching simultaneous pole positions in the singles and album charts with You Raise Me Up and Face To Face respectively.

So how have they managed it where others failed?

Ask the lads themselves and they'll tell you it's all about the camaraderie, lack of ego, and putting the band above all else.

“If there was a hidden agenda with anyone in Westlife then we'd all know about it; nobody's after the solo deal,” says Nicky. Kain continues: “I think we've been very lucky to have people around us to pick great pop songs when there seem to be none around. The reason we're still around is very simple: communication. We have no- holds-barred honesty. In Westlife; you say what you feel and you don't hold back.”

When all's said and done, they're four genuine individuals knocking out tuneful, melodic songs that adhere to the classic songwriting structure: nothing particularly clever, edgy or challenging, but stuff that strikes a chord with millions.

There are still some tickets left. The Golden Circle is £65 and you'll pay £45 for seated and £35 for standing areas. You can book at Plymouth Pavilions box office on 0845 146 1460, or Home Park on 0845 338 7232 and Ticketmaster on 0844 844 0444, or purchase tickets on the night.

Credit/Source: thisisplymouth.co.uk

How do you fancy bagging yourself a pair of tickets to see Westlife perform at their last show of the summer? The boys will be one of the star acts playing Summer Pops in Liverpool on Sunday 29th June and the Liverpool Daily Post are giving away five pairs of tickets. But hurry, entries must be in by 5pm today (Wednesday 25th June) so hurry up and enter now!

Once you've done that, head over here to read an interview with the boys.

Credit/Source: westlife.com

AS IRISH pop charmers Westlife famously sang 'dreams come true' – and they have for their biggest fan because thanks to The Herald and Plymouth Argyle she will get to meet her heroes.

Paula Chapman, from Morice Town, has been a follower of the chart toppers for years and has seen them in concert eight times.

But when The Herald heard that Paula, aged 35, had never met the band we decided this had to change.

So after quiet word, those nice people at Plymouth Argyle were able to swing it so that Paula would be able to sit centre stage in the 'golden circle' when Westlife play at Home Park on June 28.

And they were also able to arrange for Paula to meet the lads: Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan.

“I can't believe it,” she said when The Herald broke the news. “I'm going to have to scream loudly.

“What a way for their tour to end – meeting the nuttiest fan they have got.
“It's brilliant, marvellous.”

Paula, who has never been closer to her heroes than row 10 at a concert, will be joined by her daughters Hannah and Bethany Sargent, aged 14 and 12, and her sister Sara Hawkins for the meet and greet.

Paula, a senior care assistant in a residential home, will then be able to speak to her favourite Westlifer: Kian.

“I don't have a clue what I'm going to say,” she admitted. “I'll be so shellshocked, but I'll think of something I'm sure.”

Paula said she was inundated with phone calls after The Herald revealed her devotion to the band, who have had 14 UK number one hits.

Many people were already aware of her Westlife mania, as the front window of her second-floor flat has been given over to a huge Irish flag surrounded by numerous photos bearing the singers' matinee-idol features.

Visitors to the flat are also usually bombarded with Westlife tunes, she revealed.

Argyle chief executive, Michael Dunford, said the club was determined to help Paula realise her dream.

He said: “When we heard about Paula we were absolutely delighted to help.
“We are looking forward to meeting her on June 28 when she will be able to come face to face with her heroes.”

Tickets for Westlife on Saturday June 28, and for Meat Loaf on Friday, June 27, cost £65 for the Golden Circle, £45 for seating, and £35 to stand, from Plymouth Pavilions box office on 0845 1461460; Home Park on 0845 338 7232 and Ticketmaster on 0844 844 0444.

Credit/Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk / westlife.gr

IRISH megastars Westlife will also be thrilling the crowds with a feast of hits in Plymouth next weekend. The internationally renowned boyband are performing at Home Park football ground on Saturday, June 28, the night after Meat Loaf.

The last time Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Mark Feehily appeared in front of a Westcountry crowd was at Powderham Castle in summer 2004, shortly after the departure of fifth member Bryan McFadden. Since then they have continued to thrive as a four-piece under the guidance of famed manager Louis Walsh.

They are the only act to have their first seven singles reach number one in the first week of release, and have had a record 22 consecutive Top Five hits in a row.

Their huge repertoire of hits includes Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings, I Have A Dream, Fool Again, Uptown Girl, Mandy, You Raise Me Up and The Rose. Their most recent album, Back Home, entered the UK charts at number one last November. They are now the fifth biggest-selling artists of the 21st century in the UK, and have sold more than 40 million records worldwide.

The show at Home Park will be their penultimate gig before they take a year off from recording and touring, as announced in their newly published, ghost-written autobiography, Westlife.

Ticket prices for Westlife on Saturday, June 28 and for Meat Loaf on Friday, June 27 are £65 for the Golden Circle, £45 for seating, and £35 to stand, available from Plymouth Pavilions box office on 0845 146 1460; Home Park box office on 0845 338 7232 and Ticketmaster on 0844 844 0444 or visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Credit/Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk

MEAT Loaf isn't the only pop star to be stepping onto the sacred turf of Home Park next week – well, not so much the turf as the state-of-the-art stage which spans the pitch.

Irish boy band Westlife formed in 1998.

All grown up now, they have sold more than 40 million albums in the past decade with 14 number one singles including Uptown Girl, Flying Without Wings, I Have a Dream/Seasons in the Sun and You Raise Me Up.

Bryan McFadden left the band in 2004, but the rest of the original line-up – Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan – is still going strong.

The band's autobiography, Westlife – Our Story, was published this week and the boys are working on their tenth album, returning to the studio after their Back Home Tour. Tickets for Westlife on Saturday, and for Meat Loaf on Friday, cost £65 for the Golden Circle, £45 for seating, and £35 to stand, from Plymouth Pavilions box office on 0845 146 1460; Home Park on 0845 338 7232 and Ticketmaster on 0844 844 0444.

Credit/Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/ westlife.gr

PAULA CHAPMAN'S Morice Town flat has been turned into a shrine to Irish pop crooners Westlife, but on the night of June 27 she won't be in it – she'll be queuing up outside Home Park.

That's because Paula, aged 35, wants to be first in when the football ground's doors open, so she can get as near to her heroes as possible.
“The last time I saw them I was in row 10 – that's the closest I've ever been,” she said.

“But this time I hope to be at the front of the queue and to get right to the front of the stage.

“Unfortunately I've never met them,” she lamented. “If I did, well that would make my year.”

Paula, a senior care assistant in a residential home, aims to get through the night with plenty of strong coffee and an MP3 player packed with, you guessed it, Westlife tunes.

She's planning a sing-along with any other fans who join her as she gets 'psyched up' for the concert.

Paula may also be on her feet for some time, having also bought standing tickets for the gig.

“You don't sit at a Westlife concert,” she said. “You'll be too busy dancing.”
When Plymouth Argyle announced the Irish chart-toppers, who have had an astonishing 14 number ones in the UK, were playing in Plymouth on June 28, Paula rushed out and bought six tickets.

They have been allocated to friends and her two daughters Hannah and Bethany Sargent, aged 14 and 12.

That's very much Paula's style, she makes sure everyone who comes into contact with her is exposed to the Westlife phenomenon.

The front window of her second-floor flat has been given over to a huge Irish flag surrounded by numerous photos bearing the singers' handsome mugs.

“If people come to my flat Westlife's music is usually playing,” she said. “People haven't got a choice – they have to like them.

“It's good housework music, and good de-stress music. It's all good.”
For Paula her love affair with the platinum selling quartet began early in their career, she first saw them live in 2001.

At that time the group, a product of the Simon Cowell/Louis Walsh pop stable, were a five-piece.

But in 2004 Brian McFadden departed, leaving Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan to soldier on. It didn't dampen Paula's devotion. “Kian is my favourite,” she explained. “But my children like Shane.”

Paula has seen Westlife an amazing nine times in concert. “I see them at Sheffield Arena every year,” she said.

“Westlife are just brilliant. The lads are wonderful and their music is upbeat and varied. I wouldn't bother going to see anyone else.”

Credit/Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk / westlife.gr

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