WHEN Westlife singer
Nicky Byrne went down on one knee and asked
his beautiful girlfriend Georgina Ahern to
marry him, his eyes filled with tears.
For his grandad - the one person with whom
he had shared the secret that he would
propose on Christmas Day - did not live to
see the spectacular diamond ring slipped on
her finger.
"It was a day of very mixed
emotions," Nicky recalls. "It was magical but
bittersweet. Grandad would have so loved to see me
getting married."
Opening his
heart in an exclusive interview with The Daily Mirror,
Nicky, 24, reveals how he had confided in grandad
Bernard McGarry - and tells how his beloved grandparent
had carried his secret engagement plan to the grave.
He says:
"When Georgina and I bought our dream house in Malahide
just outside Dublin, I just knew it was the perfect
place to ask her to marry me.
"I wanted
the timing to be really special and I knew we would be
inviting both our families there for Christmas. The
house was going to look like something out of a
fairytale and I knew that was when I would ask her.
"But
grandad was quite poorly and I was worried he might not
make it to Christmas. So one day in September, when it
was just me and him in the room, I told him what I was
going to do.
"He was
thrilled. He squeezed my hand and congratulated me. The
following month grandad died and I was so pleased I had
shared my plan with him.
"He didn't
tell a soul, not even my nana who he had been married to
for more than 50 years. When I told her he had known she
said: 'Really? He never told me'."
Nicky and
Georgina - the 24-year-old daughter of Irish Prime
Minister Bertie Ahern - have been together for eight
years but are yet to set a date for their wedding. And
there are no plans for a double wedding with bandmate
Shane Filan and his business graduate fiancee Gillian
Walsh.
Incredibly,
Shane also proposed on Christmas Day.
He says:
"The most nerve wracking part was asking Gillian's dad
for permission. I think it's something every fella gets
worried about."
The couple,
both 23, have been dating for three years and say they
hope to walk down the aisle in the next 18 months. But
the band has an incredibly punishing year ahead.
Their new
single Tonight is released on March 3 and they begin a
gruelling world tour in April. Heartthrob Shane says:
"The fans have been wonderful about the engagement.
"There
might be a few who are unhappy but I think most realise
we are normal lads who have personal lives. If we're
happy, hopefully they will be happy for us too."
The
Westlife weddings will leave just two bachelors in the
band - Mark Feehily and Kian Egan.
Bryan
McFadden broke a million hearts in January last year
when he married former Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona.
The couple,
who have a 16-month-old daughter, Molly, are expecting
their second child next month.
And it's
not just the 22-year-old who is eagerly awaiting the new
arrival - the rest of the band are just as excited.
Unashamedly
soppy over the imminent birth, they admit babies make
them broody. Kian, 22, says: "When Bryan and Kerry had
Molly you could see the real meaning of what it's all
about.
"It made us
realise we get stressed about silly little things. Molly
makes us look at the other side of life that we haven't
had a chance to experience yet and it makes us realise
that having love in your life is so important.
"Of course
Molly will grow up with nice things around her. But
without the love of her family, the nice things aren't
important.
"In us, she
has four uncles who adore her. Life is about happiness,
not wealth, not even success but happiness. Molly has
brought that back to us."
Bryan says
angel-faced Molly worships her famous uncles - but
thinks they are all her dads.
With a
broad grin, Bryan says: "When Molly sees a picture of me
in a magazine, she points to it and says 'Daddy,' and we
all go 'Ah'.
"But then
she'll point to Mark and say 'Daddy' and then Kian and
say 'Daddy' and on she goes right through the band.
"People
often say to me it must be hard trying to juggle being a
pop star with family life but it can be just as hard no
matter what job you do.
"One of my
best friends is about to get married. He works nine to
five and has a child but I get to see more of Kerry and
Molly than he does of his family."
Watching
Bryan with his family or seeing his engaged bandmates
with their sweethearts heightens the loneliness Mark
confesses to feeling.
Millionaire
Mark admits he can never be sure if a girl likes him or
what he represents. "It's difficult to find someone who
is genuine and who wants to be in a real relationship
with me rather than because I'm part of Westlife," he
says.
His long
eyelashes sweep down from his blue eyes and he looks
crestfallen. Mark, 21, says: "There are a lot of
vultures out there who would pounce on you because of
Westlife.
"If we go
to a club in London, there will be a good few people in
there who will have heard of Westlife.
"While you
have to accept that and live with it because you are in
a successful band, it's difficult to deal with the fact
that people only ever see you as Westlife.
"We are all
willing to sacrifice certain things for the band but it
is difficult when it comes to relationships. There's a
lot of people who pretend to be something they're not
and sometimes it's not easy to tell who's real and who's
not.
"I have
never had so many good looking girls coming up to me to
talk but when I see what Bryan, Shane and Nicky have, I
want to find someone special too.
"I'm at the
point now where I believe I'll have to wait for a
while."
P IN-UP
Kian, who recently parted from Scandinavian dancer
Jessica Forsman, agrees it can be tough looking for the
right woman.
"It's a
Catch-22 situation," he says. "When we go out it has to
be somewhere which can facilitate us.
"It sounds
a bit fancy but we have to go into the VIP section. I
actually despise them because I want to meet real people
but it's difficult because of the whole security thing."
Westlife
have notched up a record-breaking 11 consecutive number
one songs, including Flying Without Wings, and topped
the charts with their latest album, Unbreakable, The
Greatest Hits Volume One. But they are worried about
sustaining their amazing level of success.
Kian says:
"When we started off we never expected any of the
success we have at the minute and never expected to get
as far as we have got.
"It's
always scary when you see new bands coming out and you
see music changing and people liking different types of
music."
The Irish
boys - three from Sligo and two from Dublin - marvel at
their fan base, which ranges from toddlers to a great
gran in her 90s.
And the
lads adore seeing the "mums in leather trousers". It is
these older fans who help make the band's tours a
sell-out.
Mark says:
"I love to look into a crowd and see a bunch of mums in
leather trousers dancing away and going crazy.
"Every band
is marketed - we are too - but it gives you a feeling
that we have got a wider appeal."
Kian adds:
"When we first came out you would see three women with
four kids but now they leave the kids at home and come
by themselves and that's very cool."
They would
love to sing with Bryan Adams or Celine Dion but what
about pop diva Britney Spears? "Nah," says Bryan. "She
can't sing."
Bryan says
with a grin: "The lifestyle in which we grew up is so
different to the lifestyle we have in Westlife that it
wouldn't be difficult to fall into the trap of becoming
a big international popstar persona and end up hanging
around with people like Britney. But we work hard to
keep our feet on the ground."
The boys
hope that when the time comes for the band to bow out,
each Westlife member will still care enough about the
others to take part in a reunion.
Kian says:
"We know this isn't going to last for ever but I would
wish in 20 or 30 years time we will be able to get back
together and sing one of our hits.
"Robbie
Williams would never touch Take That again and Ronan
Keating would never touch Boyzone again.
"But we
have got such a good relationship that I'm sure we would
still get together when this eventually comes to an
end."
Hopefully
that moment is still some time away.
