Ryan Confidential Interview Text – February 2007
Westlife’s Interview with Gerry Ryan on Ryan Confidential.
About Brian’s decision to leave Westlife:
Gerry: Can you describe when he told
you.
Nicky: Yeah, we were at home turf. I was
at home in Malahaid and were about three weeks away
from our forth tour. We were actually at the Meteor Awards the day before that.
And we’d won Best Pop Act and we went into the press room to talk to all the
journalists and staff.
Gerry: And he was roaming around
drinking a bottle of vodka.
Nicky: He was having a few drinks but we
didn’t… that was Brian, it could be me the night before, it could’ve been, you
know, the lads. We were having fun, we were at the
Meteor Awards. We were home. And we did all the press interviews and there was
a bit of a disagreement because all the interviews were directed towards Brian
about Kerry because she’d won “Celebrity Get Me Out Of
Here”. And then Brian at that night said he was going but, you know, he’d had a
few drinks, we didn’t think too much of it. And then the next day he continued…
Gerry: And what did you do? Did you
bring him into a room and say…
Shane: He called, we were meant to have
rehearsals.
Gerry: Is this how your wife says to you
“We need to talk”?
Shane: No, it wasn’t like that at all.
We never thought he’d leave the band like, you know what I mean.
Gerry: What did you think he was gonna talk to you about?
Shane: Em… We
hadn’t a clue because there was something wrong with him, we knew there was
something wrong with him for a few months. We knew that he wasn’t fully happy
in the band. But he didn’t tell us why. We didn’t know that stuff that was
going on with his wife.
Gerry: About two weeks before that he’d
been on the radio with me with Samantha Mumba saying
that he’d been at the party, you know, with her, he was out of his mind, he’d
been found wondering up the
Kian: He went wild for a while. There’s no two
doubts about that but I think he got to a stage in his life where he was with
Kerry and he was in Westlife and whether which one wasn’t working for him he
wasn’t sure. So he went to Westlife field first and he decided “My life isn’t
the way I want my life to be so I’ve got to get rid of something in my life
that controls it”
Mark: Change it.
Shane: Yeah.
Kian: So I think that’s what he did and he left Westlife. And then when
he realised that that still didn’t fix problems he ended up with leaving Kerry.
Nicky: But that’s a wonderful thing hyacinth. We know
now that the Kerry thing was obviously a bigger issue than what we obviously
imagined it’d be at that time.
Gerry: He comes to the flat, right, and he tells you guys, alright, “I’m
out of here.”
Shane: No, he didn’t really. He sat down first. We were all kinda smirking, we were kinda
chatting and staff, there was a kind of a funny vibe
in the room. We didn’t know what he was gonna say. We
hadn’t a clue what he was gonna come out with. And he
goes “Lads…em… I’m hanging up my boots.” And Nicky
straight away was like “What?” He goes “Yeah lads, honestly, I just… I wanna leave it, I’m not happy” or whatever like this. We
thought it was a joke. We thought we were being like phunked.
Nicky: We had five years of bond. That’s why, I think in the aftermath of
it slightly probably anger, slightly. And I think the press were jumping on us,
they wanted us to follow up but we were determined that we had too much in
common with Brian, too much kinda love for Brian
let’s say to follow in. I think he had for us too, in fact I know it. But it
was very hard as Shane said in 19 days to not be a little bit kinda…
Kian: Pissed off…
Gerry: Then suddenly you go… “Do we actually need this guy?”
Kian: That was Louis’ kind of moment there. We rung Louis and you know I
was like “Brian’s after leaving the band, this is crisis, what are we gonna do…” he was like (doing Louis’ voice) “Relax guys,
relax, I’m coming”
Shane (doing Louis’ voice: “I’m on the way, I’m on the way! I’m after to
go through a red light!”
Nicky: (doing Louis’ voice) “Nicky you have to meet me cause I don’t know
where I’m going in the North side of
Kian: And then he came into the room and he was like “What are you
talking about. This is no disrespect to Brian, he’s not a lead-singer, he
doesn’t carry the band, he’s not the, shall we say, the Ronan Keating of the
group, he’s not the Garry Barlow of the Take That” or
whatever, you know, “This band can go on as a four-piece,” so we all five in us
were like “Yeah it can”.
Gerry: So within five minutes it was “Brian, we don’t need him anymore”?
Nicky: Well before that there was tears. There was a few tears among us because we thought the band was
over.
Kian: I cried, I thought the band was
over.
Shane: I remember Kian slowing to the
couch and I stood up. I kinda got angry more than
anything else, I kinda stopped them “Lads, let him
leave,” you know what I mean “f**k it like, whatever. If he want let’s leave,
that’s his business.” Do you know what I mean and Kian then went (doing a Kian
crying voice) “What are we gonna do lads! He’s
leaving the band! We have a tour in 19 days!” and I was like “We’ll get it
together, don’t worry about it, it’s gonna be
alright” and then that’s when kinda Louis came in and
put everyone’s mind in a bit of rest.
Nicky: Well it made us realize how
fickle it was.
Kian: Yeah, we had got to a stage where
after doing our Greatest Hits album we had something like 18 – 20 million
albums sold, you know, we’d egos at that stage. We were like “Yeah, we’re Westlife,
you know, f**k you, whatever” you know. Not in a big way but we had it about us
in a certain extend. And then we just got knocked right back down to earth.
Straight away, like that and then the next day we got up and the four of us
went to do dance rehearsals we were “Right lads, let’s
make this the best concert we have ever done.”
Gerry: Well I think that to the end game
he lost you on basically, that’s my analysis.
Kian: I don’t like to look at it like
that, but yeah.
Gerry: Yeah.
Shane: If you asked us earlier on like,
“Was he an idiot, was he stupid to leave Westlife”…
Gerry: You answered me.
Shane: I think he was mad and absolute
rockers. If anyone left Westlife now I think they’d be absolutely stupid.
About Louis Walsh:
Nicky: We’ve grown up with Louis.
Gerry: And you control Louis, he doesn’t
control you.
Nicky: Well no, I wouldn’t necessarily
agree with that, no.
Kian: He has a lot of control.
Gerry: Ok, can I just say something… I
don’t believe that. I believe you call the shots.
Nicky: No, you’re not right there.
Mark: No, honestly. Together, it’s like
he’s fifth member. He’s got as much input as anyone of us.
Kian: If something doesn’t happen that
Louis wants to happen…
Shane: Really wants to happen…
Kian: Really wants to happen, he will make
it happen. And he will make it happen by constantly badgering us.
Shane: Badgering you (Kian) and then you
badgering us.
Kian: Badgering me and then me badgering
the others.
Nicky: What he has with us that he says
he didn’t have with Boyzone, we’ll never know because we obviously weren’t
there, we’ll have it out with Louis. We have a relationship with Louis where if
he’s been, if we feel he’s been a little bit too harsh or whatever, we’ll say
it to him and he’ll give us just as much of a bollocking as we’ll give him. And
every single one of us here at this table have sworn, shout or falling out and
not talking with him for a week or two. But the good thing with us is you don’t
read about that. Louis doesn’t say those things and we don’t say those things.
Shane: I honestly don’t know what it is
but I think he has a genuine love for Westlife, I
think he has a genuine respect for each of us individually for different
reasons.
(Gerry nods “No”)
Nicky: What do you think it is?
Gerry: I’ll tell you what it is. You’re
in charge, you’re on top, you’re more mature than anybody else he’s ever worked
with, you make him money, he won’t go around with you.
Kian: Maybe…
Nicky: I don’t necessarily agree with
that. If Louis wants to really get to us, he knows how to do it.
Kian: And he won’t be shy doing it.
Mark: And I think maybe other people
have let him do it but he knows also we wouldn’t let him away with doing that.
Gerry: Did you hear that? we wouldn’t let him away with doing that.
Shane: No, but it’s true though.
Mark: No, we wouldn’t. But we know he
wouldn’t let us away as well.
Gerry: I know,
all I’m saying is that the right thing is taking charge of your own desk.
Nicky: I think we we’re more in charge
than probably do the artists he’s said those things about maybe but he’d not
say it about us. He might say it about us when we’re finished. But then we’ll
say things back.
Gerry: Why presuppose that you’ll go for
it.
Nicky: Well, exactly.
Kian: You know, everybody goes “When are
you breaking up” I mean, I don’t ever actually see Westlife breaking up. You
know, I don’t ever see Westlife actually breaking up.
Nicky: We’re breaking up on 22nd
December for Christmas.
Shane: We’ll always be a member of
Westlife.
Kian: We’ll never say “It’s over!”
Shane: As in, we’ll never have that
press conference “It’s over…”. We might take two years
out or three years out sometime but we’ll always probably be making another
album until we stop making anymore and people are still waiting for a very long
time.
Kian: We will get to a point in our
lives where we will turn around to each other and whether it’s public or not,
we’ll turn around and say “Lads, is that it? Are gonna
make another album? Are we gonna make another thing?”
and it will get to a point where everybody goes “No, we should let it go now
lads.”
About making covers:
Nicky: Everytime
we got to make an album we always want to make studio songs, you know, original
songs. That’s the first thing.
Gerry: Why you don’t? And this is and
argument on lots of websites on the internet “I want more original songs from
them, I want one or two covers”
Nicky: You know,
we don’t have the luxury of writing our songs.
Gerry: Do you suffer from not doing
that?
Shane: No, not
at all, we haven’t at all.
Nicky: I think what it does do is, not
that we care about this by the way. I suppose it’s an element of us deep down
inside us cares but it would stop you from being recognized and winning certain
award shows.
Shane: It’s not that we have to do it, it’s just that every now and then we like to do it. We’d
like to have a song that nobody else has done before and literally that’s the
only reason. Just for our own sake. Just for us to feel like this is the first
time anyone in the world was going to hear the song. And it’s gonna be from Westlife.
Mark on coming out:
When did you decide “I’m not like the
rest”?
Mark: Oh well, I suppose, I mean, I knew that I
wasn’t like the rest by then anyway (laughing) to begin like.
Gerry: And when did you tell them?
Mark: Em.. I don’t know, probably about… was it about four years
ago?
Shane: About four years ago yeah, in my
apartment.
Nicky: I think we probably all had
suspicions at this time. It wasn’t like, you know, breaking news to us.
Mark: It more that I confirmed something
that they already knew to them than I suppose to tell them this big thing that
shocked them, you know.
Gerry: And what did you say?
Mark: I think we just got a bit drunk
and then I was like “Right, this is the perfect moment”
Shane: The perfect time, yeah.
Mark: Actually I think Nicky and Shane…
I’ve been drinking with Nicky and Shane in
Kian: And then… a hundred questions!
Nicky: I think it was hugs. It was kind
of a hug and, you know, “we are so happy for you that you confide us now and we
can continue on, you know, and you can be happier I suppose” that was it.
Gerry: Did you for a minute think “How
is this gonna pan out”, you know?
Nicky: With the fans?
Gerry: Yeah
Nicky: Not one single second and I say
God’s honest truth.
Shane: Not at all, no.
Nicky: That we were “we stroke down
now”, if that was gonna finish the band there and
then, well that was just went to be.
Gerry: Was there anything negative at
all?
Mark: Zero, honestly nothing like.
Gerry: I don’t think.
Mark: Absolutely not one, I mean, I
don’t know if people kinda say things to themselves
when I’m not around there or whatever but em… which I
don’t think they do you know…
Gerry: They do.
Mark: They do it. It’s ok ‘cause I do it to them as well so I don’t mind them. Em… I’ve certainly had not even the smallest amount of
negativity, anything at all, which is great, you know, because I didn’t kinda know what to expect. I assumed there would be a very
small amount. I wasn’t scared.
Gerry: But what did you think was gonna happen?
Mark: Honestly I don’t really know. I
knew it was gonna be a big deal for a day or two, do
you know what I mean, not a big deal but I knew it was gonna
be in the papers for a day or two and stuff like that.
Gerry: What drove you to that moment,
what made that happen?
Mark: I suppose ultimate is just being
happy and being in a relationship and sort of that was the final nail to tell me
like why the hell wouldn’t I tell everyone, you know. You know, I’m living that
happy life just like all the rest of the guys, that my friends are and why the
hell wouldn’t I just celebrate it and tell everyone just like anyone else
would, you know. I mean, I kinda felt like is it’s a
disgrace that anyone would think this is something that I would hide.
Gerry: Which you had so that kinda says a lot about the world that we live in.
Mark: I’ve been in the relationship for
a good while before it all came out and everything and I didn’t want to… like,
you know I wanted to live in the relationship, you know, for a while before all
kind of came out in the public… all that crap not to effect, you know, me and
Kevin if you know what I mean.
Gerry: And you’re happy?
Mark: Very happy!
Gerry: But you’ve obviously been
fancying any of these guys (looking at the rest of the lads) anyway someone?
What’s wrong with them…
Mark: I couldn’t even if I tried to be
honest. (laughing)
Gerry: Would you not have kept it in the
band? (all laughing)
Nicky about his marriage with
Nicky: I might cross my t's
and dot my i's a little more
than the public would if I wasn’t married to her. I think I would be the type
of person I am if I wasn’t married to her anyway, in terms of… you know I
wouldn’t be this mad drag lord or this mad, you know, alcoholic or you know
what I mean, I’m not whiter than white just because I’m married to the Taoiseach’s daughter. Put it this way, I’d never want to bring shame on the
family but I’d never want to bring shame on my mum and dad on my own family
anyway just as much.
Gerry: So for instance, what Brian did wondering
up Baggot streets which was a strange time of his life and do you know what… I’ve
been there… you wanted to take your trousers down and fart in the face of
Nicky: No… no, I can’t.
Gerry: Of all of us here at the table
you can’t.
Nicky: I know, I know… but I wouldn’t
want to. And that’s the truth.
Kian: It’s not his personality to do
something like that anyway.
Gerry: Is he (Nicky) the most together?
Kian: I don’t know, I think we’re all
pretty together when it comes to things like that but I think what Nicky is
saying is that he’s not the type of person, it’s not in his jeans anyways, it’s
in Brian’s to go and take his trousers down and show his arse
to Baggot Street you know what I mean, whereas it’s not actually in
Nicky’s personality. You know, like I mean, if I was extremely drunk and young
enough I might have done it and mark would probably have done it as well and
it’s not in Shane’s personality. Do you know what I mean,
you know who’s like that and who’s not.
Gerry: Shane looks like he likes the
idea though…
Kian: He probably does like the idea, he
wouldn’t do it though.
Gerry: So you (Nicky) are the most
measured person at this table then I think…
Nicky: No, I wouldn’t say that no… It’s
not a chore, it’s
who I am, you know what I mean, I’ve never… I was a footballer before Westlife
so I never did drugs in a young age, I never did drags in my life, I didn’t
really drink that heavily till I was… till I met all them haha.
And then I suppose I watched myself a little bit that sometimes I can be a
little be hard, you know, I suppose the odd time but nothing measure.
Shane on him and Gillian:
What was the last bit of advice, what
was the last slap you (Shane) got (by Gillian)?
Kian: She packs a good slap – Gillian.
Shane: Em…
Mark: Oh yeah..
Shane: Yeah, Gillian’s the boss.
Gerry: Well they’re all in agreement at
that.
Mark: I crack my knuckles sometimes
and she hates it and she literally thumbs the head off me if I do it.
Shane: Yeah. Eh, the last bit of advice
I got, it’s probably to do with like not being out late drinking and making a
show of myself. (laughing) I probably was, I want to be honest about it. No if I’m in a club, usually
if I’m in a club and I’m having a good laugh I don’t wanna
go home, I’m kinda like “Oh come on…”
Gerry (in a drunk
voice): So you say “So you go home, I will follow you…”
Shane: “I’ll follow you in an hour”,
yeah.
Kian: No, Shane goes (in a drunk voice),
“Everybody! Let’s party in my house! Come on, let’s go! Everybody,
my house, party!”
Shane: And the Gillian goes round
telling everyone “There’s no party, we’re going home to bed, Shane’s
going home to bed.” That’s probably the only thing that might annoy her. I’m
sure there’s loads of things that annoy her.
Gerry: Have you ever been put out of the
bedroom?
Shane: Em… (thinking) … I’m sure I have yea I probably have once or
twice.
Kian: Oooh,
I’ve never been put out of the bedroom…
Gerry (repeats laughing at Kian): Oooh, I’ve never been put out of the bedroom… (they all laugh)
Shane: No, I probably have, if I’m…
Gerry (interrupts): Honest…
Shane: No no,
if I’m… no I’m being honest… If I came home and I was too much drunk and I’d had to much
to drink or whatever and I’d be talking in my
sleep and the baby be in the cot and she’d say “Look, come on, go out.”
Kian on him and Jodi:
Kian: She’s giving me grief she’s like
“When you’re gonna make honest one out of me” and I’m
like, “When you’re ready.”
Gerry: You want to get married…
Kian: I do want to get married, yeah
definitely.
Gerry: Then be careful with what you
say.
Kian: I don’t worry it’s
ok.
Gerry: Be carefully with what you wish
for.
Kian: No, no problems. I definitely wanna marry her and I will definitely marry her.
Gerry: Why?
Kian: Because I love her
and I wanna spend the rest of my life with her. I see
her as the perfect person for us to have babies together and to live the rest
of my life with her really. (Gerry looks at him continuously)
Kian: Stop analysing me. I can see us in
there (pointing Gerry’s eyes).
Gerry: You (Mark) can’t get married just
yet because are maybe…
Mark: I suppose I could, but not in
Gerry: Are you interested?
Mark: That’s not really a question that
I can even answer because it’s…
Gerry (interrupts): Can the heteral guys just tell you something… Stick with them, love
them, be with them, you (Mark) are not gonna have
babies I don’t know what you really need to get married.
Mark: So are you saying that the only
reason they owe to get married is cause straight
relationships can do have babies?
Gerry: Well actually that’s a good
question, why are anyone of us married, why are you (Shane) married?
Shane: I disagree with that cause I
think if he wants to… You have your fair point obviously but you know it
doesn’t necessarily… obviously they’re never going to have babies but he can
marry a guy.
Mark: We can physically have babies.
Shane: But it he wants to have that same
commitment let’s say that me and Nicky have… to our wives not to each other.
And Kian wants to have,
he can have that as well but just in a different way.
Gerry: And do you (Mark) care about
that, would you like the marriage ceremony to be part of your experience?
Mark: Yeah I mean…
Gerry: The commitment?
Mark: I mean, the same as when Shane and
Gillian got to the point to their relationship they wanted get married, if and
when I get to that point in my relationship then I certainly would absolutely
get married.
Gerry: And you’re not at that point yet.
Mark: No, I mean, I’m literally kind of,
you know, it’s early days, my first serious
relationship. It’s just simply not something that I’m thinking about you know,
it’s not like, you know, I don’t know when I will think about it.
Kian: I think what Mark’s saying is fair
enough because you know, it’s the same with me like you know, I’m with Jodi
three and a half years and everyone’s going “When you’ll get married, when
you’ll get married”.
Gerry: Did you ask her to marry her?
Kian: No no. They are yet as far as I’m concerned. It’s like
as much as we’re there you know like, you wouldn’t… no couple that are together
three and a half years don’t wonder to get married, it’s only because I’m in
the public eye that people are all “When you’ll get married, when you’ll get
married, when you’ll get married.”
Shane: And once you get married “When
you have babies, when you have babies....” then when you have a baby “When you
have another baby”.
Kian: I wanna
get married when I have time to enjoy being married. When I can turn around to
her and say “Well babe, let’s go off. Let’s travel the world for six months.
Let’s leave all this behind, this mad life that we’ll leave behind for a while”
and enjoy each other’s company, you know. Rather having to go back straight
into work you know, and doing our tour and our album and all that type of
staff.
Gerry: That’s unlikely to happen, you have to do it in the same time.
Kian: No I will, it’ll happen in the
next few years because you know, Westlife will start taking a year out year.
Gerry: Do you look at him (Shane) and
you see him arriving here with the child…
Kian: I think that’s beautiful, you
know, I think that’s fantastic but I don’t think it’s for me yet.
Gerry: Are you looking at this and going
“Jesus! The lads are having their babies, they caring them after.”
Kian: Well, I mean, I’m looking out and
going the lads are having babies fair play to them,
I’m glad it’s not me.
Gerry: So what happens in your life when
your missus looking after the child and you’re going out on tour, does she get
pissed off?
Shane: Well obviously, you know, she’s
at home a lot more, she’s dealing with Nicole on a
more basis obviously than I am. Cause I am going to
work or I’m doing concerts or whatever. Yeah, but she is a
sty-home-mum and she’s getting used to that fact now.
Gerry: What she thinks of that?
Shane: She loves it.
Gerry: So you go on tour, going to the
night clubs, record the albums and she stays at home.
Shane: no no no no…no no
no no… not not at all! Jesus no way.
Gerry: Ok well redefine that.
Shane: Well, I definitely obviously go
on tour, where she comes with me, she’ll be backstage with me, so will Nicole.
I go on stage, then I come back, I take her and Nicole out, I go home.
Gerry: That’s how you survive. What
about you (Nicky), what are you gonna do, she’ll be
coming on tour with you with the baby?
Nicky: Yeah, exactly. The funny is we
had an argument the four of us for the tour bus. And this was about three weeks
ago and I knew obviously (about the babies).
Kian: You can pay for it, It’s your kids.
Shane: I know, we will.
Gerry: He (Kian) is not gonna put up with it he’s gonna
have his own separate bus.
Nicky: He’ll be paying for himself.
Gerry: Clock that.
Nicky: I knew Georgina is pregnant and
we are travelling in a tour-bus an we’re actually,
Mark and Kian went to North of
Mark: When I heard you were pregnant I
was like “That’s why he was asking for a second tour bus” you know.
Nicky: It was actually Shane said it to
me.
Gerry: A second tour-bus, you need a
second tour-bus?
Nicky: No no,
Gerry listen. We are all a moan, alright, and for a
long time Mark didn’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend at the time and then
when he obviously met Kevin and everything came out Kevin now travels with us. It’s one more persona. We obviously had
people on the road that travel with us, Shane had Nicole, Kian has Jodi, I’ve
Kian: He sits in my lap by the sides you
know so…
Gerry: Kian it’s your own business. You
(Nicky) need your own separate tour-bus do you?
Nicky: No, absolutely not. Myself and Shane, two children, the two of us.
Shane: You know,
a family tour bus with babies and a bus with the lads that are rock & roll.
Gerry: That sounds pretty cool so that’s
what we’ll have, we’ll have the Rock & Roll tour bus for Westlife, heading
up by you (pointing at Kian). By the way who else will be in it?
Kian: Me, Jodi, Mark and Kevin. And all our mates.
Gerry: And your (Shane & Nicky) tour
bus will be sponsored by pampers.
Shane: Yeah!
Nicky: Yeah, we’ll fit a logo on the sides.
Kian: I’m definitely not getting on that
one (laughing)
Gerry: Will that be the thing that
eventually decides it all will it?
Kian: Well I mean, I argued against the
tour bus because I said there is no way in the world we’re spending another extra money on a second tour bus, it’s completely
stupid and completely irrationall.
Gerry: This is the Larry Molon of Westlife.
Kian: Why in a world would we spend that
much money, if you wanna spend it off you go ahead but you aint taking my cut out of it. That was my attitude towards it.
Nicky: And then you’ve got backtrack and
you have on everything you said.
Kian: No, I’ve not gone a backtrack in anything.
Nicky: You have to.
Kian: Why?
Nicky: What we’re gonna
do though.
Kian: Well that’s up to you, you have the kids not me.
Nicky: Yeah but you have the dog as
well.
Shane: For us to be in the band and
prolong the life of the band which benefits you and you as well (Kian and
Mark)…
Nicky: We have to be happy.
Shane: We have to accommodate.
Kian: Now we sit down and argue this out
in another time.
Shane: No it’s true though, it all
helps.
Gerry: You can sort it out now, that’s
what I say.
Nicky: Yeah absolutely.
Gerry: Everybody’s got to be happy,
don’t they?
Kian: Yeah, that’s all that matters.
Mark: Exactly!
Gerry: If being happy means two tour
buses…
Nicky: That’s my point, exactly.
Gerry: Can I ask you all then this
question… How do your partners feel about being part of the public persona?
Shane: They don’t like it, I think is
they right answer but they know that it’s part of what we do.
Gerry: No, Shane when you say they don’t
like it, do you mean they really don’t like it and this is something I’m gonna have to end of dealing with.
Shane: Well they’d rather not be in the
spot like, they’d rather not, you know, have to about things if they’re on
their holidays, some of us have got pictures before on holidays and staff like
that and they’re never gonna be flattered of
photographs. They don’t like that side of it, if you like. The fact that we
bring attention to them that they don’t need to have if you know what I mean.
Gerry: Have you had the conversation,
have you had the “Look, what about the car, what about the helicopter, what about the villa, don’t be giving out to me about it.”
Shane: Not in that way, they don’t give
out about it. It’s not like that, they don’t give out
about it.
Gerry: Your missus.
Shane: Yeah, Gillian she understands
what it is, she understands that that’s part of my life, she’s understood from
the very start.
Gerry: What if she said to you “I can’t
handle this anymore and you have to leave Westlife.”?
Kian: A person that loves you would
never put that demand on you.
Shane: Yeah, exactly.
Gerry: That’s an amazing response. A
person that loves you will never say that to you.
Kian: No, a person that loves you will
never demand that off you, for you to give up your passion.
Gerry: But what about their passion?
Nicky: I’d be gone if
Shane: It’s great and I’m happy enough.
We’ve enough.
Gerry: You’re happy out.
Shane: Yeah.
Gerry: Ok… (Pointing Kian)
Kian: I’d be happy out at this stage.
I’d say goodbye at Westlife at this stage because of the last eight years. If
she said it to me at the start of the band, I’d say no way, forget about it.
But she would never ever ever ask me to do that. And
neither would
Gerry: You don’t know that.
Kian: We do know that because we’re with
them.
Gerry: Sorry hold on guys. You actually
don’t know that. You don’t know what’s the future’s gonna
hold for you.
Shane: yeah you can’t tell the future.
But why do you think would they ever want us to leave?
Kian: Unless something drastic happen.
Gerry: I’ll tell you why I think this
right. Because I think that one of the most challenging things for anybody is
to be associated with somebody who’s famous, who’s in the public eye and who
becomes iconic. All of which you four guys are. And you don’t realise it. So
when the partner say “I can’t take it anymore” you’re
all going to slip.
Mark: No no, I
don’t think it’s a thing of just someone turn around and go “Right, that’s it”,
like it’s in their decision “I’m gonna be there for
you in Westlife now and you come home to me”.
Gerry: No but that’s what happens in
relationships.
Shane: I can never see it happening. I
honestly could never see that happening.
Gerry: No no
hold on, bare with me right? This happens in
relationships. If it happens to you (Nicky) you’ll slip.
Nicky: I think, I’m not naïve to think
that something like that couldn’t happen especially with the way we’re planning
Westlife to go for the next 10 years among signing new contracts and staff and
I think if one of our spouses was the crack on the pressure with kids and
school while you’re away all the time and around the world and I’m not saying
it will happen over a dinner when she’s like “You have to leave” like “Oh right
lads I’m going.”
Gerry: That’s exactly the way it
happens.
Nicky: Yeah, but I’m not saying I would
make this like, I’d wanted to ring the lads in it’s
pain like that. Obviously it’s not as decision that you would just make it twenty-four-hours.
I would try and talk thing around, see if I could make things better in the
situation but if it was the last straw, I would go, absolutely.
Gerry: He’d go. What would you(Kian) do?
Kian: In that scenario, I’d go yeah.
Shane: I’d go definitely.
Mark: Honestly, he would never say that.
He wouldn’t say it’s me or the band. Like there’d be massive reasons, probably
if it did happen, like I told you it never will, but it’d have to be going
under months and months of problems in the relationship. And it’d be a last resort, you
know.
Shane: Yeah it’d be problems within the
relationship or problems with kids, or problems with school or something like
that.
Gerry: This is fantastic. They were all
suffering from the shamed illusion. Westlife, it has been an absolutely
pleasure to be talking to you.
All: Thank you
Shane: Cheers Gerry.
Kian: Cheers.
Credit/Source: Thanx Jasna for the video / Thanx Joanne for
helping me