New! interview with Shane and Gillian
"Being a parent will change me"
As Westlife's Shane Filan shares his baby joy, his wife Gillian reveals why he will make the perfect dad...
Shane Filan has got a lot to be happy about. His band Westlife are in the middle of their successful Red Carpet Tour and, despite rumours that they are about to break up, he insists they're already planning their next album. Even more exciting is the fact that Shane and his wife Gillian are eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child in August.
The couple started dating seven years ago - before Westlife hit the big time - after Gillian was introduced to Shane by his bandmate Kian Egan, who is Gillian's cousin. They tied the knot at a fairy-tale wedding on December 28 2003.
Then, in November last year; Shane and Gillian, both 25, moved into their specially built, seven-bedroom mansion in their hometown of Sligo, in Ireland. The flash pad has got everything a modern pop star couple could want - a cinema, snooker room and even a plasma screen TV in the bathroom, so they can watch it from the comfort of their jacuzzi. But what makes the house extra special is that it was on the first night in their new home that Shane believes they concieved their first child.
Tears of joy
When new! spoke exclusively to Shane and Gillian backstage at Westlife's recent sell-out Belfast gig, neither of them could contain their delight as they recalled the moment when they discovered the good news.
"I just started crying and Gillian did, too - it was a very emotional moment," explains Shane, who has been flying home to check on his pregnant wife in between concerts in his new helicopter. "It was almost too good to be true. Gillian and I thought she might be pregnant, so she took a test and there it was - right in front of our eyes.
"I started jumping around the room hugging her so tightly. It was one of the greatest feelings of my life. We were in our new home in Sligo just before Christmas. We both decided not to tell anyone - even our closest friends and family - until we had reached the three-month stage. But we also knew there would be problems keeping it a secret. For instance, Christmas was coming up and everyone would have thought it odd that Gillian wasn't drinking.
"We came up with a plan that I would also give up booze over the holidays and say that we were both on a detox diet. It worked a treat because nobody suspected a thing."
Perfect timing
The pregnancy might not have been planned, but Gillian confessed to new! that it wasn't a huge surprise either. "We weren't exactly planning it, but at the same time, we knew it would be the ideal time to start a family. The new house has seven bedrooms, so we need to start filling them up soon. We also knew the Westlife tour would be finished by the summer, so Shane would be able to be at home for the latter stages of the pregnancy."
Despite her husband's jet-set lifestyle, Gillian says Shane will make the perfect father. "He always puts me before anything to do with the band, and I know it will be the same with our child," she says.
"He's so caring and attentive to me. He's even pulled on the rubber gloves and done a lot of cleaning around the house since I got pregnant. He gets really stuck in and sweeps and washes the floors and cooks for me - he's very sweet. Often, after a long day, he'll sneak off upstairs and run me a big bubble bath to relax me. I really couldn't ask for a better guy. He's going to make an amazing dad."
Shane doesn't even have to worry about leaving Gillian home alone while the band completes the final stages of their world tour. The star has installed a state-of-the-art camera system in the house, which allows him to view any room from anywhere in the world on his laptop computer.
"If Gillian is tucked up in bed or sitting on the sofa in the living room, I can speak to her from the other side of the world," he reveals. "It's brilliant because I miss her so much while I'm away."
What about Westlife?
Shane is planning to take paternity leave from the band in June so he can concentrate on the final exciting months of Gillian's pregnancy. But he insists the family plans don't spell the end for Westlife, who have now been releasing records for six years - pretty good going for a boyband.
"I think it's possible to be a dad and a pop star," he adds.
"Plenty of people have done it before. Obviously, when you get older and marry and start a family, your priorities change. But Gillian is so supportive about my career, and nobody wants to end the band yet.
"We want to make another album and tour again, and, hopefully, carry on. But I'm going to have a few months off when the baby is born, so I wil be able to throw myself into it."
And Shane insists he won't shy away from dirty nappies and late-nigt feeding. "I'm actually really excited about doing all that," he admits. "I haven't changed too many nappies before, but you have to learn some time. I really love my sleep, so it's going to be a bit of an upheaval to get used to waking up three times during the night.
"But it's just like everything else - I'll get used to it and then, after a while, it will become normal. Maybe I can sing a few Westlife songs to the baby to try and get it to sleep again - although I might be too tired for that!" he jokes.
Despite suffering with morning sickness, Gillian, who manages a chain of clothes shops in Ireland, has continued working. "You have to keep on with things, although at times you want to stay in bed," she tells us. "The morning sickness has actually been more like morning, noon and night sickness - but I expected that."
The couple, who can hardly contain their excitement, insist that they don't mind if it's a girl or boy. "We just want a healthy baby," says Shane. "Looking to the future, I'd love five kids. Two girls, two boys and a lucky dip. But whatever way it works out, I will be the proudest man alive.
"At the end of the day, you can have all the No.1 records in the world, but there's nothing that comes close to the buzz of becoming a parent. It's already changing me and the way I feel about life. It's a completely life-changing thing."
From: New! Magazine, 11th April 2005
Back