Shane about Nicole

In NEW magazine of March 2007
Shane, how is life with your daughter Nicole in it?
"She’s a proper little girl now. She knows what she wants and likes to get it! She’s starting to talk alot and she likes to climb the stairs on her own, so we have gates everywhere."

Shane - Asian phone interview (November 2006)
(At this point, Shane begged off for a while, "Just a second." After about five minutes, Shane was back on the line, saying, "Sorry, my baby is crying!" So the interview veered toward his being a father.)

Do you help change her diapers and prepare her feeding bottles? "Oh yes, I do. She’s crying because she lost one of her shoes and I have to help her find it."


Nicky on Nicole (November 2006)
"But when Shane and Gillian had their little daughter Nicole, last year we began to get broody and we felt the time was right for us as well."

"One thing I’ve learnt from Shane and Gillian is just how much stuff goes with a baby! I think were going have to get a separate tour bus for Shane and myself and our families. That will be the baby tour bus."

Nicky - Sunday World Magazine

What do you do with the rest of your day? (tour interview May 2006)
I just spend time with Gillian and Nicole, because they’re on tour with me. It’s great though, because I wake up and they’re there looking at me, laughing at me still sleeping. Nicole doesn’t know any different, so she thinks it’s great fun seeing her dad sleep in.

Shane about Nicole in the 2006 tour programme
Shane, meanwhile can expect slightly earlier starts on this tour, especially on the dates he will be joined by his wife Gillian and their daughter Nicole.
"I never used to get up early but with Nicole I'm used to getting up at 7am or 8am. This tour will be the first one all three of us can have breakfast together and then we will chill out for a while. Maybe go out into the city and look around or go shopping and have a nice dinner somewhere during the day. If I'm near a golf course, I might try and slip away for a quick round of golf though!'

Shane: It's my daughters first Christmas, and I'm really excited. I love being a dad - Nicole is great. She's five months old and a lovely little thing. Sadly, she can't come with me everywhere. I really miss her when I'm away.

Shane, how are you finding being a dad to Nicole? (Sun Webchat December 2005)
Danielle, Stoke On Trent

Shane - It's been amazing and Nicole is beautiful.
Except for two 10 day trips to South Africa, I've practically seen her every day since she was born on July 23.
Nicole has started giggling and laughing. Last night I was tickling her and she couldn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes. It was brilliant.
I don't play Westlife to her, but I do sing Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely. She loves that song - I've even made it my ringtone.

Changing nappies (BamS, 18th December 2005)
Shane, you became a dad a while ago. Are you able to change your daughters nappies?
Shane: Oh yes! My wife Gillian taught me everything. I was there during the birth and I’m sharing the nightshifts with my wife now. I can change nappies, warm-up her bottles and rock her to sleep.
Kian: Nicole is a Westlife-baby. We all looked after her by now – we are the best babysitters!

(Richard & Judy, 9th December 2005)
So, your baby's first Christmas..
Yeah, Nicole yeah, she's 5 months now so she won't have a clue obviously, but no it's great, it's gonna be special."

Is she called Nicole? Is it your first?
Yeah, Nicole yeah, it is our first baby yeah.

How does it feel?
It's unbelievable, it's.. you know the last four, four and a half months now, has been the best four and a half months of my life, you know. So, it's great, like I'm just looking forward at just getting home and spending some time at home with her you know.

Is she still breast-feeding or is she bottle-feeding or..?
No bottle-feeding yeah, she's actually got on to eating baby rice and stuff and food and carrots and mash.."

You looking forward to the morning feeds?
I do yeah, so, when I have a day off I do, but I don't really have many days off at the moment, so she's doing a lot of the night stuff.

Shane give your baby a kiss from us
I will, she's watching. *laughs*

Senkveld interview, 18th November 2005
'Shane you became a father for the first time in July..'
That's right yeah, a little baby girl, named Nicole.

Hows it like being a father?
It's excellent. Erm you know I thought it would be a lot harder with Westlife and the job and stuff like that, but you know I get to see her an awful lot, like I see her everyday. Erm obviously tonight I'll get to see her when I get back home tonight, back to London. It's great you know, it's a life changing experience obviously, but I recommend it to every guy out there, it's brilliant.

Who of these 3 guys are her favourite uncle?
Favourite uncle, I probably have to say Kian, cause Kian is my wife's cousin, so they're related.

'In the booklet of your new cd you write that you and your wife only have 11 more to go, are you really planning to have 12 children?! A Footballteam?'
*laughs* No no, I doubt she'd like that very much. Erm, no I think it was about the number ones, I was talking about the number ones, that we've had and that was 12 at the time, in the singles, and I said 'this is the biggest number one I've ever had'. She's number one in our family, and I said we would have 11 more to go, haha, at the end of it.. the haha was the very important part!'

Have they given you any gifts?
Yeah they've all given me gifts yeah, Mark actually, we were in South Africa last week and Mark got me a little jumper with all giraffes and lions on it and stuff, so she started laughing at it last night so she obviously likes it.

About recording the album seperately from the other 3
"Because my wife was having a baby, I recorded the album earlier in the year in Sweden and London. Then the boys went in recording while I was at home changing nappies. It was different but the only way to do it because I needed to be at home with the baby. "It enabled me to get the recording out of the way and being a dad is just great. The birth was fantastic but Gillian had to have a C-section because there were a few complications. She was three weeks early."

Shane about Nicole in a Taiwan interview (October 2005)
Hey slow down, you just became a daddy. How's your baby doing?
Oh, Nicole is great! She's 12 weeks old now and she hasn't utttered her first word. I can't wait for her to take her first step. My wife,
Julia [Julia? Guess they mean Gillian ;) - webmaster edit], is looking the best she's ever looked. All the weight is gone and she looks fantastic."

Do you help to change your daughter's nappies?
Yeah, I do all that. I'm a full-time dad. Waking up in the middle of the night is the most difficult duty of all. But it's so much joy to spend time with my little daughter. She's so beautiful. I've started playing music for her lately. She likes Robbie Williams a lot! She started smiling when he came on the radio.

Wake Up With.. Westlife (10th October 2005)
Now, Shane you got a little bouncing baby girl back in July..
'That's right, Nicole yeah.

Was she bouncing when she came out? 
She was bouncing yeah, she was, no she's great, she's a beautiful little now, she's 2 months old now, so erm, it's pretty cool.

You're enjoying all these dirty nappies?
I am, I'm enjoying everything, it's great, she's over in London with me at the moment so I get to spend a lot of time with her and every morning now is a kind of extra bit special now, you wake up and you go *makes gesture with his hands* and you see her and stuff like that, so it's great.

How has fatherhood shaped the new album, Face to Face?
Erm fatherhood has made the new album very more exciting I think, I think it's every day we go to work now it's especially for me obviously, you wanna get up early in the morning and do shows like this and hopefully one day Nicole will come to see me in concert and stuff, so that's what I hope for. With a written Westlife banner 'Daddy I'm proud of ya'

Shane about Nicole sleeping through the night Wake Up With.. Westlife (10th October 2005)
"She's not too bad she sleeps at like 4, 5 hours at a time, so she's not too bad, but if I'm working early in the morning, like this morning, Gillian does the night feeds, and if I have a day off, sometimes I'm kind of looking forward to it so I can do the night feeds so, it's great fun, it's great."

Shane about Nicole and Westlife's future
"It makes me want to do Westlife for as long as possible so Nicole can come and see us in concert!"

About being away from Nicole
"It'll be harder to be away from Nicole but I can deal with it."
"Brian found it hard, but he just didn't really want to be in Westlife any more or with the four other people as a band."
"For me, I don't think that'll happen. The boys have been so supportive and when I want to be at home to see her, they adjust. We all want to be happy and we have learned from what Brian did."

Baby effect on bands
Many pop bands go their separate ways when love and babies enter the picture. But not this lot. "The babies, girlfriends and partners have made us closer, it's made us into a family", says Shane.

About Nicole making every day special (November 2005)
"I loved having a wife, and now I've got a family, it's the best thing in the world. Although I did play Nicole our album and she started roaring crying!"
He adds: "Every day of your life becomes special, every day you get a new photo on your mobile. I get texts from her even though she can`t talk."

Shane, you've had a big change in your life lately too. In July yourself and Gillian became parents to baby Nicole. What does it feel like to be a dad?! (Vip Magazine)
It's unbelievable. It's been the best three months of my life. Being a dad is the most amazing feeling in the world. You see things like the little dimple I have on my chin - she has it too! And she's also got Gillian's big blue eyes and hair colour. Even the expressions she makes remind us of ourselves. We hope to have many, many more children. We both were brought up in very big families. I can't bear to be away from her, It's strange what time apart can do to you when you're a dad for the first time.

How are you going to cope with touring? Is it going to be a nightmare?
It is and it isn't. I'm never going to go for more than a week without seeing her. The great thing is we usually do about three or four nights in a city so we'll have a base for those few days and Gillian and Nicole will come over. If you were chopping and changing and in a different city every night, that would be a nightmare. Picture messages are my saving grace! But the more I get them, the more I want to see her. I've just got to get used to it because this is my job.

Mark about Nicole (T4, 31st July 2005)
'One of you is missing though, Shane isn't here, he's had a baby..'
Mark: His wife's had a baby *laughs*
How is baby Nicole?
Mark: Oh, she's beautiful, she's very very small and just, she's gorgeous.

"Nicole's a good baby"
"She is sleeping through the night which is fantastic and she is a really good baby. She hardly ever cries, except when she is having a bath or if I'm changing her nappy. I do my share, but if I am up early in the morning Gillian takes that on board, which is great."
"But when I have a day off, it's my duty and I'll be up during the night doing the feeds. I sing the baby to sleep or put on some music for her."
"I'll sing whatever is on the radio at the time. One night she cried for half and hour so I put on some music and sang to her. She fell asleep
on my shoulder."
"It's an amazing feeling. Every dad will know it, but it's all new for me and I'm just glad she is healthy and happy. The two of them have been home for the last four days and I am finding it quite hard. I am missing them badly."

Time flies
"Gillian and I are getting on really well and baby Nicole is a lovely little thing. It is all flying by really quickly but the last two months have been fantastic."

Some more emotions
"I went through all the emotions as I wondered what was going to happen. I was like an eight-year-old child with no sweets because I was roaring and crying and I couldn't help myself. It was an amazing experience and I want to experience it a few more times."

A close friend about Nicole being an inspiration for Shane (Mirror)
"Shane is mad about her and has got a new lease of life from her birth. He's now desperate to get back into the studio and help write a great album. His big ambition is for Nicole to see him live in Westlife when she is old enough to understand what's going on. He's even been writing new material at home while he enjoys his time off from the band."

Shane about the emotions (Now Magazine)
"When the baby came out I was lost for words; my wife Gillian and I were both in tears"

Shane about Nicole and refusing photodeals (Irish Daily Star, 26th July)
"The baby cant say no, and we don’t want to exploit the baby's identity like that."


Irish Daily Star, 26th July
"Nicole is great as well. She likes to sleep a lot."

Shane about Nicole being early (Irish Daily Star, 26th July)
"The fact Nicole was a couple of weeks early means we have that extra time together at home when they come out of hospital in a few days. It's fantastic."

What Nicole looks like
"The baby looks like me. She's got dark hair and is absolutely gorgeous. Gillian will be staying in hospital for a few days and I can't wait to get her and Nicole back home."

About the birth
"She's a small little baby, a gorgeous little thing," Shane told me. "The fluid around the baby was low in the last few weeks and after a scan on Friday morning it was decided to go ahead with the caesarean this morning."


Shane on Nicole and Gillian (24th July, Sunday World)
"The baby is fine now thank God. And Gillian is in great form. She is sitting up holding the baby right now. All is brilliant in the Filan Camp."

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