nicksinter.html

He loves M&S, but hates looking like Simon Cowell

Thanks to Jo for this interview! Has being in a successful band changed you?

It's not just success that changes you, it's time. At the start we just did as we were told. Now we can spot a blagger a mile away. What's the most important thing you've learned? That fame is just a word. We're still the same and we have to try really hard to make sure people know that. We don't earn as much, we're not as famous and we certainly aren't as obnoxious as people think.

Has your fashion sense changed?

Of course, look at the Swear It Again video - we look like five Simon Cowells on stage. You go through a stage where you think you're supposed to be wearing all this expensive designer gear so you do. I'm at a stage now where I don't really care. I shop in normal shops like Marks and Sparks. How do you chill out? I go home, switch on the TV, call my mates and go for a game of snooker or a quiet drink. I love going supermarket shopping too. What winds you up? Anyone who's rude or arrogant. And the press - last year, Shane and I had an argument at a gig, but it wasn't half of what the papers made it out to be. People argue, especially people who spend as much time together as we do.

What goals have you still got?

Sometimes I think I'd want to relase a solo record, sometimes I think about TV and sometimes I think about just going home and playing football. I want to buy a season ticket at Manchester United and go to a match every week with my mates. I want to get married and have kids, although I'm not ready for that yet. Georgina doesn't want to have to follow me around with a baby and I'd hate to not be there for her. I see the heartache Bryan goes through and it's horrible.

article ©Smash Hits magazine 2002

Westlife's Nicky Byrne and Georgina Ahern

Nicky and Georgina, who have been romantically involved for six years, were photographed in the romantic setting of the Chateau Dampierre, near Versailles, in France Every day the two 12-year-olds stared longingly across the Dublin classroom at each other with expressions of undying love written on their faces. The boy told his mother: "I've found the girl I'm going to marry." Today that girl, Georgina, is the daughter of Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, and the boy has grown up to become Westlife heart-throb Nicky B

But all these years later, despite Nicky's boast about having found his future wife, marriage isn't top of the agenda. In fact, they're not even engaged - and it seems unlikely that they will in the foreseeable future.

And yet none of this is connected with the widely held belief that the Westlife boys - Nicky, Bryan, Kian, Shane and Mark - has some sort of "gentleman's agreement" with their manager not to have children or get married in the next four years. For a start, Bryan McFadden is already engaged to former Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona and the couple, who plan to marry next year, are expecting their first baby in September. So what lies behind the supposed "agreement" and the refusal of former childhood sweethearts Nicky and Georgina to become engaged, let alone make any firm marriage plans? HELLO! joined the couple at a romantic chateau in France to find the answer to these mysteries.

"At the beginning, when we were a young band, the press immediately wanted to know which of us had girlfriends," explains Nicky, 22. "At the time, I was the only one with a girlfriend and she was the Irish Prime Minister's daughter. Our management turned round and said, "None of the Westlife boys is going to get married or have kids in the next five years. This band is going to be bigger than anything that's come out of Ireland and there's not going to be anything to stop them sky-rocketing. But there was no gentleman's agreement. We didn't deny it because, at the time, it suited our purposes not to."

University student Georgina, who is 22 in May, nods. There's little she doesn't know about Westlife in general and Nicky in particular. She has been with the blond Dubliner through thick and thin. She spurred him on when, at 16, he joined Leeds United's youth team and, two years later, she consoled hjim when the budding goalkeeper was thrown on the scrapheap because he was deemed too short at 5ft 10 in.

"He was my first boyfriend," she smiles, snuggling up to him. And they still behave like two teenages who fell in love last week, despite having been romantically involved for six of the nine year that they've known each other.

They are incredibly close and, her university studies permitting, Georgina will join Nicky on choice dates of Westlife's current UK and foreign tour.

They have also just bought a four-bedroom house not far from Dublin and Georgina was involved in every stage of the house-hunting process. Nicky confesses that he doesn't know how he'd survive without her. "She's my rock," he says. And, for her part, Georgina states: "Nicky is totally, completely, my life."

So why are they both firm in their resolve to remain unmarried for the time being? "I do want to marry Georgina - and I know she wants to marry me - but it can't happen yet," insists Nicky who, last month, saw Westlife notch up their eighth number one with their Comic Relief version of Billy Joel's Uptown Girl. "I'm travelling so much, and Georgina's busy at university with her Business Management studies, so what would be the point of us getting married?" "I want to put 100 per cent of my energies into Westlife and then, if we take a break or slow down, I can get married and start a family. But this won't be for the next three years, maybe not even for six years - who can predict?"

Georgina, whose parents are separated, agrees: "I'm right behind Nicky on this, the time's got to be really right for us. After six years together, it's something we obviously talk about all the time, but neither of us wants to get married and then never be together in the way a married couple should be. Until the time is right for us, I don't mind waiting."

"Even when we get engaged," continues Nicky, "it will only be if we have a definite date in mind to get married. When I ask Georgina to marry me - or she asks me to marry her - it must be along the lines of, 'Will you marry me on June 24 next year?' I'll then be putting a ring on her finger with something tangible in mind."

Nicky, still amused by the memory, continues: "My mum told me that my dad had said to her at some stage, 'Do you think they're getting married...?'" "We heard later," adds Georgina, "that they'd been waiting all night for us to say something about our future plans as a couple."

"But," observes the singer, "they were all let down. The champagne was put on ice. "Actually, I'd like to be married by the time I'm 25 or 26, and have a baby before I'm 28 or 29," Nicky continues. "I'd like to have four or five kids because I've only got one brother and one sister, and Georgina's only got one sister."

"I can't wait for us to have children," says Georgina, "because I think Nicky's going to be a brilliant father - good, fun, really loving and caring."

"If any of my kids went out and weren't home on time," he reflects, "I'd be up the wall with worry. I think that sort of over-protectiveness stems from how I was brought up. My mum and dad were great and there was nothing they wouldn't do for us kids."

For 18 years his painter-and-decorator father, also called Nicky, has been lead singer of a cabaret band called Nicky and Studz and he is responsible for whetting the future boy-band singer's musical appetite. "My first time up on a stage was singing with him at my auntie's wedding," he remembers.

But, touchingly, while he didn't have an ounce of nerces when it came to singing for his auntie, he was overtaken b prolonged bouts of shyness when it came to the pretty dark-haired firl who, like him, had just moved up to the Dublin secondary school. If confused the youngster because he normally wasn't like this, whereas Georgina, in her own words, was "very shy, very reserved, very quiet".

"I remember our first day at school," she says. "In the afternoon, when I went back home, some of my friends asked, 'What are the guys like?' I thought of Nicky and said, 'There's only one good-looking guy there, but I don't hink he even noticed me.' That's how it seemed." "I saw her all right," he corrects her. "The first thing I notived were her eyes. It was just like, 'Oh my God!', I could hae lost myself in her eyes! I looked at her and, I know it sounds daft, but I became shy and toungue-tied. I couldn't go up to her, couldn't talk to her, but I noticed everything about her."

Georgina squirms with embarrassment and involuntarily draws herself closer to him on the pink and yeloow chaise longue. "All the girls fancied him like mad, me included. When I first saw him in his smart new school uniform, his school-bag on his shoulder, he was kind of posing against the corridor wall."

"Because I fancied her so much," Nicky remembers, "I just couldn't go up to her and talk to her. But I went home at the end of that first day and told my mum, 'I've found the girl I'm going to marry.' My mum just laughed at me. How could I possibly know who I was going to marry at that age? But I know."

But knowing did nothing to aleviate the couple's frustrating period of three years when neither spoke to the other. Georgina's natural shyness and Nicky's nerves inhibited any form of verbal communication, even though they shared the same classroom for science, music, business studies and choir.

Nicky openly acknowledges the absurdity of the situation. "From the moment I saw Georgina, I put her up on a pedestal. I could have a conversation with anyone, but I couldn't talk to Georgina. Not that I couldn't, I just wouldn't, because I was afraid that whatever I said would come out sounding stupid and she'd think I was a fool."

"And I was hopeless at helping him break the ice," admits Georgina. "I was sporty, I did table tennis and aqua-aerobics, and I had my own close group of friends. I just remember that we used to look at each other from our desks."

"We sat right opposite each other for science," affirms Nicky. "We'd literally stare at each other throughout the lesson. At business-studies class she sat right up the front and I'd see her either standing in the queue in the corridor before we went into class, or, if I turned up late, she'd already be in the class and I'd have to pass her desk and we'd smile at each other." It was after a year of this that Nickt made a discovery about the girl he smiled at and said hello to. "It was Budget Day and I was sitting at home watching TV when this man in a dark suit came on the TV brandishing a breifcase - and there was Georgina standing next to him! I honestly didn't have a clue that her dad was Bertia Ahern, Ireland's then Finance Minister. "Anyway, by this point I thought from glances and body language that she did like me, and I knew she knew that I liked her."

So, two years after telling his mother that he'd met his future wife, Nicky set pout to change the ludicrous pattern of behaviour the two of them had settled into. "There was a guy in my geography class called Michael who lived near Georgina and he caught the same bus home as her.

"I said to him, 'Is there any chance you can ask her, if she's remotely interested, to ring me?' Next day he told me that her reaction was, 'No way!' I was devastated." Explains Georgina: "I was coming out of school when this guy suddenly came up to me and said, 'Oh, Nicky wants to know whether it would be worth him contacting you?' I didn't know this guy that well and I thought he was messing around. I just walked on, but I never said I didn't want to meet Nicky."

A third year passed and the two of them remained tongue-tied. But then the big breakthrough came. Nicky recalls the chain of events that were to change their lives: "My best friend Colm spoke to one of her friends about me. I was football training in Dublin and he rang me and said Georgina's friend Anita would talk to Georgina about me next morning. "Oh no, I thought. I'd been turned down a year ago by her and I didn't want to be turned down again. So at school the next day I tried to stop Anita from telling Georgina - but I was too late. 'Dont' worry,' she said, 'Georgina says she'd like to go out with you.' I was like, 'What?' I invited her to a party and we arranged to meet at another friend's house. It went on from there."

They both use the same phrase to describe their feelings: it was if a huge bubble had burst inside them and there was a wonderful sense of release. "I was really nervous before I met him, but I had a really good night," says Georgina. "We had our first kiss. It was a class act, a perfect kiss."

"It was just brilliant," enthuses Nicky. "Without sounding corny, it was eagerly awaited!" The romance developed at a pace. Nicky had already met Georgina's mother Miriam at their home in Malahide, and Georgina had met Nicky's parents at his house in Dublin, when Georgina invited him to meet her father for lunch.

But Nicky's biggest test came when he visited the Ahern's house for dinner. "I felt the situation was like something from the Titanic where Georgina was Kate Winslet, the posh one, and I was Leonardo DiCaprio, the not-so-posh one. I'm from a lovely background, but Georgina was from a richer area and her dad was who her dad was.

"So when I went to their house for dinner it was like, 'Oh my God, here we go.' Actually it was quite funny. We sat down with a bowl of soup, whereupon her dad picked up a roll, buttered it and dunked it in the soup. I thought, well, if he's doing that, so am I. That was cool" Since then Bertie Ahern, the former Lord Mayor of Dublin who has been dubbed the "Mr Nice Guy" of Irish politics, has become Prime Minister. He is not only the youngest prime minister in Ireland's history but also the first to separate from his wife and openly carry on a romance with another woman - though he maintains a "friendly relationship" with Georgina's mother. "Nicky and my dad get on realy well," says Georgina. "My dad liked him from the momeny he first met him. He always wants to know what Nicky's up to and avidly follows the fortunes of Westlife."

Nicky constantly refers to Georgina as his "rock". "She's an absolute diamond, so unaffected by anything to do with fame. We'll be somewhere and I'll say,'Look, there's Liam Gallagher,' and she's like, 'Oh yes,' and that'll be it.

"She's known me for so long, which gives us that 'something extra'. During my time with Leed United we'd spend every single day on the phone, but when I came back ad my world was turned upside down and I didn't know what to do with my life, it was Georgina who was my spur and inspiration.

"I bought a karaoke machine and she used to come out to the karaoke bars with me. She used to baby-sit my little brother with me. Her dad used to give her pocket money on a Sunday and she'd buy me a takeaway. I'd gone from having a lot of money at Leeds to have nothing back home in Dublin. I was heartbroken. And then suddenly the opportunity to be in this new Irish band came along and she was 100 per cent behind me. She said, 'Go for the audition with all your heart, you know you can do it', and it paid off and Westlife was born." They faced their first danger as a couple in early March in central London when the mini-cab they were in was hit from the side by another car. "When I saw the car heading towards us," says Georgina, "I put my head down and closed my eyes and hugged Nicky. After the impact everything went blank and I couldn't stop shaking."

"As we started to skid," continues Nicky, "I put my arms around Georgina. We were thrown violently forward. We were very lucky, though, because somehow we managed to walk away without a scratch."

"The first thing we did," explains Georgina, "was call our parents. We talked to my dad first because we knew the press would be on to him. We said, 'We're fine, but we've been in a car accident.' He was obviously glad to hear we were okay."

ow they are excited by the prospect of moving into their first home as a couple, Nicky considers the practicalities of what they have between them. "To be honest," he reasons, "Westlife will probably be over in a decade from now because of the type of band we are. But no matter what the future holds for me, I just pray I'm with Georgina. "Hopefully they money I get from Westlife will look after both of us for the rest of our lives. All I know that if it wasn't for Georgina I wouldn't be the person I am today. She's my morning, noon and night. She's my everything."

article © Hello! Magazin

Heart 2 Heart with Nicky L&K's

"Westlife Special" Magazine, July 2000 thanks to Jacqueline - pumbaa@enterprise.net - for this article! >>

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Nicky, what would you most like people to know about you? "That there's more to me than meets the eye. People know a little about me from the magazines and newspapers, but there's loads more going on below the surface."

How would your mum and dad describe you? "I'd hope they'd say I was a nice guy! They'd probably also say i'm a complete competitor and don't like to lose at anything - whether it was at school or now with the band."

Reveal your earliest childhood memory...I can remember my sister used to be well into her Irish dancing and would go to these competitions that lasted all day - I couldn't stand it! It was so boring, so my dad would take me out to football matches or to the museums while my mom and sister waited for the results. I must of been really young 'cause my brother wasn't born."

Are you a good judge of character? "Yeah, definately. I can suss people in a matter of seconds."

How romantic are you? "You'd have to ask Georgina! I try to be as romantic as I can, but it's difficult 'cause we're apart from one another for so long, but I think I am."

Is it weird that so many girls fancy you because you're in Westlife? "I don't know, I don't really think about it. It doesn't really bother me though, 'casuse it's just part of growing up, isn't it?"

How good-looking do you think you are? "I can't beleive you've asked me that! I don't get up in the morning and think, "What a hunk!" I guess, I'm happy with what I look like, I wouldn't want to change anything."

Who was the last person you hugged? "Georgina about an hour ago - I haven't seen her for ages so i'm getting all my hugs in now!"

Have you ever had your heart broken? "No, I haven't, I guess I've been very lucky."

What makes you smile? "Snuggling up on bed with Georgina or being at home with my family having a cup of tea. It's the simple things really."

When did you last bawl your eyes out? "Watching Armageddon! I'm not afraid to cry at films. I just can't help it."

Can you describe your bedroom for us? "I share with my little brother Adam and it's being renovated at the moment so I don't know what it looks like! It was full of backstage passes and teddy bears that fans gave me. There's also my old football stuff and Adam's school gear. It was green and purple, but i've no idea what colour it's gonna be now!"

What is your most treasured possession? "I have a lot of lucky charms and holy items that have been given to me by my family that I always keep with me, but at the moment it's probably this ring I bought in LA. It's so expensive, but I haven't got it insured yet. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend all that money on it, but our tour manager persuaded me 'cause he said it was an investment. Actually, he persuaded Kian to but a £600 leather jacket too! He must really enjoy spending other people's money!"

What's been the best moment of your life so far? "There's been loads for us - Georgina agreeing to go out with me, the day I joined the band, the day we got our first number one - there's been so many. But I guess the one that stands out most was when we appeared on the Late, Late Show (top-rating Irish telly show), 'cause i'd been watching it since I was a little boy. It was like being with an old friend - I even used to call the presenter 'uncle'!"

What kinda things do you worry about? "Everything! I'm the biggest worrier you've ever met! I've got it from my mum and it's the worst thing ever! I wish I didn't worry as much as I do, but there you go. I can't sleep at night for it sometimes."

So do you think you're really tough? "No not at all! Like I said, I was a bit of a case when I was younger, but definately not now."

What scares you the most? "Elevators - i'm getting better, but I still wouldn't get in one on my own. It's worst in America 'cause I could be on the 57th floor and I have to get one of the lads to come with me!"

Does your fame ever become a burden? "Only 'cause we work so hard. I end up so shattered that, sometimes, I can't give the people I love this time i'd like to. I wouldn't change this job for the world, but it's so tiring."

How important is money to you? "Very important! I wouldn't do this for nothing. There's a lot i've sacraficed for this and I have to work hard, saying that, happiness is much more important." Nicky, what do you admire most about Bryan? "The way he doesn't let things bother him. He's had a lot of bad press and a lot of fake press, but he doesn't let it get to him. Even when we're having a bad day he can get us going."

And so what do you like the least? "He's always on the go, sometimes he's too energetic. It could be the early hours of the morning and he's still gabbing away 10-to-the-dozen and I hust want to tell him to shut up!"

Tell us a secret about Shane... "His nickname is "Triggs" after Trigger off Only Fools and Horses. He doesn't like anyone known that!"

Finally, this interview has been... "Fun, thank you very much!"

Nicky Westlife's year

from NME.com, December 2000

Is there ever a point where you feel Westlife is moving too fast?

Nicky: I think there is some days. Y'know with the kind of success we've had over the past year it's been phenomenal. I don't think anyone ever expected it in any way to be that fast. We don't want to stop it. We don't want to stop the success. There's was question of us not releasing for Christmas because we were thinking, 'Have people had to much of us at the moment'. But I think once the ball's rolling you've got to keep it rolling. And the Westlife train's still going. We're just having fun.

Do you ever worry that things could fizzle out as fast as they came?

Nicky: Definitely. Especially in the pop business there's now doubt about that it can. We've seen it with so many bands in the past. Who would have thought that nobody would be thinking about Take That today. They were so big, such a huge phenomena and when they broke up it was a disaster. Then everybody forgot and moved on with life. It can just end tomorrow if people don't want you any more. They won't buy your records and that's the end of you.

How do you think pop is doing in general at the moment?

Nicky: I think it's flying. I think people are loving it. With the likes of Britney Spears and I suppose ourselves. There's plenty of young up and coming acts that are on the show tonight. There's plenty of pop around and there will always be pop around.

Can you summarise how the past year has made you feel?

Nicky: Absolutely knackered tired. But the best days of my life so far and hopefully I'll always kinda remember. When I'm 60 years of age if I have grandchildren I can always say, 'Watch the videos, look at the pictures or it's in the Guinness Book of Records and we're proud of that. We're just loving it so much at the moment.

After your 'Coast To Coast' tour, do you think you could ever do anything like the Backstreet Boys did and do four continents in short space of time?

Nicky: I think we could do. The Backstreet Boys probably took a leaf a little bit out of our book and they went one better. It's not copying us but having their own little idea. It was great and it worked for them as well. I like the Backstreet Boys. They're great lads and very talented singers. I'm sure we could do it but it takes an awful lot of planning. 'Coast To Coast' Day almost killed us! We were knackered after it. I went to sleep for two days but we enjoyed it.

What surprised you most about 2000?

Nicky: I think that we've continued the success, the number ones. We thought after last year, getting Christmas number one, getting Record Of The Year, we thought it'll kinda slow down a little bit for us. But it didn't! One thing that surprised me is how difficult the US market is to break. We went there in the summer for three months and it's such a huge market. We were getting on planes four times a day, we traveled to different towns and cities trying to make an impact. We did. We had a number two single with 'Swear it Again'. We haven't released the second single yet because we haven't had the time to go back to promote it but hopefully in the summer next year we will.

America's the next step then?

Nicky: Next summer. We've got this album, we've got Christmas and the tour starting in February. We go straight into rehearsals in January. It'll be April before we go to the States.

Will you be hooking up with Mariah when you go over?

Nicky: I dunno to be honest with you. We haven't spoken to her since we recorded the song. Well we spoke to her after we got to number one to congratulate each other and stuff. I don't think so, unless both of us are in town. We won't be going out of our way. I don't mean that in a bad way. She was lovely and it was a great experience but it wasn't like we're best friends or anything. She's a lot older than us. I don't think we'll be socialising with her. But if she invites us round to her house for dinner I'm not going to say no.

What do you like about America?

Nicky: I liked LA, I liked New York. I love the hustle and bustle of New York city. Los Angles, the shopping there. America really killed us. LA and Boston are fine but you go down to places like Omaha and Nebraska and it's literally just like country town. You're spending two or three days there doing radio promotions and it gets to you after a while especially with us being kinda successful back home and in Europe and stuff. Nobody knew us in America. At the start it was great then after a while it was like, nobody's still not looking at us! You don't think it would affect you but it does. You kinda think, 'We want a little bit more respect here'. It's not that we were kinda getting stroppy about it but it is a hard market. *N Sync are so big there everybody compares you to *N Sync. When *N Sync come over here they say, 'Are you gonna be the next Westlife'. It's just different. It's difficult to break the whole world at once.

Are you worried about people beating you to Christmas No 1?

Nicky: Not at all. Christmas No 1 is always a dodgy number one. It's always gonna be something that'll appeal to people at the time. If we don't get number one, yeah I'll be disappointed but it's at Christmas time which is where there's the most competition. Blobby was number one at Christmas time a couple of years ago. It's always kinda a song like that that will pip you at the post but we're gonna do our best. If we don't get it as I said it's not the end of the world. It's a good laugh. I think is brilliant 'cos we've got a little kinda sixties routine to it round the mic stands. We really enjoy performing it.

Everyone's putting bets on you guys being Christmas No 1. Ever been tempted to have a flutter on yourselves?

Nicky: I have actually! Not on Christmas number one. There was a bet, 100/1 for us to get 10 number ones in a row. This was after we had the sixth. I didn't actually put money on it but I know people who did. At 100/1 I think they put about 10 or 20 quid on it so fair play to them. If we do it, we do it but I dunno. We've got this single then we've got the Comic Relief single in the middle of March then we've got another single hopefully in the summer.

Tell us about your favourite Christmas childhood memory?

Nicky: I love Christmas. I think for me, growing up, my mam's got five sisters who're all married and have kids who are obviously my cousins. We always go to meet at my nana's house on Christmas day. Everybody always buys for everybody and gives out presents. You've got 30 or 40 people in the house and it's not even a big house - it's just like a normal one. It's a great day. Everyone's eating and drinking, giving out presents. It's very homely with everyone together and I love that. I love just Christmas in general being able to go home and spend it with your friends. Everywhere has a good atmosphere, pubs. Everyone's open and it's great.

What are your plans for New Year? Nicky: I dunno yet. I was gonna head off to New York but I haven't decided yet. if it's not New York it'll probably just be Dublin.

What are your main aspirations for 2001?

Nicky: Just to keep going with the way Westlife is. I think it will slow down. This year has to slow down! We can't keep repeating it. I just hope that it won't slow and then die away. I hope we can sustain the pace. Slow down for a while then have a lot more success again. We've got the world tour which starts in February in Newcastle. We're doing five Newcastles, six Glasgows, three or four Sheffields, 10 Wembleys, Manchester. It's going to an amazing year for us. We're just so looking forward to our tour. It's something that we've always looked forward to.

In the sack with Nicky Westlife

Smash Hits Mag azine, January 2000 >> subscribe to Smash Hits

Interview: Kim Dawson

From goal kicks to nose picks, no secret is safe when Nicky jumps in the sack. No wonder he moans, "These questions are too hard!

" IF YOU COULD BE INVISIBLE FOR ONE DAY WHERE WOULD YOU GO AND WHY? (Jenny Crown, Bromsgrove)

There are a few places I'd like to visit, so I'd have a very busy day! I'd start off in our manager Louis Walsh's office to see what he has planned for us, so I know exactly where we'll be going! And I'd take a trip to the girls' changing rooms at some point, (laughing) it has to be done - maybe the Miss World changing rooms or something! I'd also like to take a trip into other bands' dressing rooms. It'd be interesting to hear exactly what they have to say about us!

WHY DID YOU THANK THE BACKSTREET BOYS ON YOUR ALBUM SLEEVE? (Georgina Adams, Surrey)

Before I was in the band, the Backstreet Boys were a huge influence on the boys from Sligo and Bryan. Not taking anything away from Boyzone, because they're a huge influence for us, being Irish. Before the boys met Louis Walsh he put them on supporting Backstreet in Dublin and it was the first time the Sligo boys had performed in front of an audience. We got together and decided it'd be nice to thank them for that inspiration they gave us. We've met them too and they're really cool guys.

IF YOU WERE AN ICE LOLLY WHAT FLAVOUR WOULD YOU BE AND WHAT JOKE BE ON YOUR STICK? (Nicola Richer, Surrey)

(laughing) A lolly? Hmm, I'd probably be a banana flavour ice cream with chocolate over the top! Do lollies have jokes on them? I've never seen one before, either that or I've just never noticed. Can it be any joke? Okay, what do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummi bear! That's my favourite joke.

ARE YOU GLAD LEEDS TOLD YOU YOU WERE TOO SHORT TO BE THEIR GOALIE SINCE YOU'VE HIT THE BIG TIME WITH WESTLIFE? (Hayley Thorpe, Eltham)

Totally! I've got great friends at Leeds and I'm thankful for my time there. I love football and miss it, but I fell on my feet. When I came back from Leeds I was devastated and really depressed. Some nights I'd just sit and cry, but I knew what I wanted to do and knew if I worked hard enough I'd achieve it. I've been really lucky.

IF YOU WERE REINCARNATED WHAT WOULD YOU COME BACK AS? (D Hunter, Northants)

(sighing) These questions are too hard! I'd like to be a horse or a dog. Horses are such beautiful animals, and I'd love to be able to run fast! Dogs are really cute and man's best friend! If I had to be a person rather than an animal, I'd be really, really famous like Madonna, Elvis or Michael Jackson. It'd be really interesting to see what it's like to be that famous.

WOULD YOU GIVE UP ALL YOUR SUCCESS IN WESTLIFE IN EXCHANGE FOR WORLD PEACE? (Marie O'Donnell, Glasgow)

(shaking his head and laughing) Oh, no! this is getting to political. Umm (laughing again), oh God, what can I say? (Taking a deep breath) No, I don't think I would. I'd love to have world peace, it'd be brilliant, but I think we can achieve it without people sacrificing careers. People have to have their own lives and I love what I do. I don't think giving up my career could ever influence world leaders, so no, I wouldn't.

IF YOU WERE A SAUCE WHAT WOULD YOU BE AND WHOSE SANDWICH WOULD YOU FILL? (Louise Chaves, Tottenham)

Hahaha! A sauce? I'd be mushroom and cream sauce. Whenever I eat steak and chips I have to have mushroom and cream sauce, on chicken and mushroom pies too. Anyone who wanted to eat me could. I'd just pop into their sandwich and let them have a good chew on me.

WHICH MEMBER OF WESTLIFE HAS THE BEST LOOKING SISTER? (Marfua Begum, London)

(thinking) That's debatable. Mark doesn't have a sister and Kian's got a good few. But I'd say it'd between Shane's sister Mairead and Bryan's sister Susan. Mairead's a lot older than Susan and she's sexy. Susan's a lot younger, she's 16 and is gonna be really nice when she's older.

WHY, AT THE WESTLIFE SIGNING, DID IT TAKE YOU THREE HOURS TO WRITE YOUR NAME 100 TIMES WHEN IT ONLY TAKES ME THREE MINUTES, 11 SECONDS? (Sarah Day, Cheshire)

(giggling) All I can say is you must've had a lot more practice than us! Don't forget there are five of us so you'd have to write your names 500 times, then see how long it takes. Plus we have to chat, kiss people, pose for photographs and stuff like that. If you add all that and smile and be happy, as well as run to the toilet a couple of times, it takes longer. If you can do all that in three minutes then congratulations!

IF YOU WERE A PAIR OF KNICKERS, WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO BE THROWN ON STAGE AT? (Jemma Downes, Dublin)

(Looking relieved) Phew, I thought you were gonna ask me who I'd like them to be on! (laughing) Probably Westlife, to see it from the knicker angle! Can you imagine, lying on the stage looking up at Westlife, it'd be quite interesting actually (giggles at the thought for ages).

DOES RONAN EVER GET ON YOUR NERVES? (Jessica Musson, Notts)

Not really, to be honest. Ronan's been very, very good to us in every way possible. He's a very busy guy with a lot of things on his shoulders. We try not to bother him to much, but when we do ring him up and ask him things, he's always there. His voice is amazing, and no matter what it is, whether it's about what shoes we buy, he gives us an opinion. For someone that busy, its amazing. Y'know he's married, he's got a kid, Boyzone, his solo stuff, presenting - he does everything! And to manage us too and be there for us when we need him, is amazing.

YOUR BIRTHDAY IS A DAY BEFORE MINE SO YOU'RE A LIBRA LIKE ME. DO YOU BELIEVE IN HOROSCOPES AND SUPERSTITION? (Debbie Jeffreys, Bracknell)

I'm very superstitious actually, but I never read my horoscopes anymore, even if someone reads it to me I won't listen. I used to, but not anymore. I went to a fortune teller when I was at Leeds, she didn't tell me anything bad. She said I'd be successful in my career and one day I'd play at Wembley. I assumed it'd be at football, but it'll probably be with the band. Since then I decided I never wanna hear the future again.

WHAT ARE YOURS AND THE OTHER LADS' WORST HABITS? (Elizabeth Horobin, Conwy)

Picking my nose. I try not to do it in public, but if I rub my nose and I feel something there, I have to get it. I never eat it though! (pulls a disgusted face). Shane doesn't listen to you, he's in a world of his own. Bryan is like a Duracell battery, always on the go. It can be 4am and we're all knackered but Bry'll wanna play football! Kian and Mark are pretty cool, although Kian can get agitated and lose his cool and I'll be like, "It's not that bad, chill." Mark can fall asleep just like that, which can be annoying, you'll turn to talk to him and he'll be, like. (Mark sleeping with his mouth open)!

FANS HOLD UP BANNERS FOR YOU. IF YOU COULD HOLD UP A BANNER FOR YOUR FANS, WHAT WOULD IT SAY? (Vicki Mann, Somerset)

It'd say, "We love you so much, thank you for all for everything you've done for us." Nicky's own pick of the post:

YOU'RE VERY PROTECTIVE OF GEORGINA, BUT HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP CHANGED SINCE YOU JOINED WESTLIFE AND WHAT DOES SHE THINK OF YOUR FANS? (Joanna, Nottingham)

Georgina thinks the fans are great, to be honest with you. At the start I didn't know how she's accept the female attention, but she's been great. If we're at home and there's a call at the house, she'll go out and speak to the fans. When she's at me mam's she'll quite happily talk all day to them. Even in town now, a lot of people recognise her and she's as nice as she can be to them. I think our relationship has changed a little bit. The fact that we don't see each other a lot has put a strain on it, and I'll freely admit that. But I think we're still as much in love as we were and hopefully it'll continue to be like that. Can I just say thank you to everyone who has been lovely to Georgina and myself, it really means a lot to us.