December
December
27th 2002
WESTLIFE hunks
Nicky Byrne and Shane Filan gave their girlfriends a mega Christmas
surprise when they both asked "Will you marry me?"
The two stars handed over gleaming diamond engagement rings to seal their
love. And as whas expected, both girls said "yes".
Neither of the lads knew that the other had popped the question!"
Nicky, 24, will marry Georgina Ahern, daughter of the Irish Prime Minister
Brtie Ahern.
He asked her at their new £1.7 million home in posh Malahide, a seaside
resort outside Dublin. And Shane, 23, will tie the knot with gorgeous
Gillian Walsh- after asking her at their new £1 million home in Sligo,
West of Ireland. A pal told the Daily Star: "The first Shane knew about Nicky and
Goergina's engagement was when he rang manager Louis Walsh to tell him his
good news.
Delight
"The next call he made was to Nicky to congratulate him and to tell
him he was engaged to Gillian!"
Shane said recently: "I've known her since I was 12 and we were in
musicals together. She was one of my first girlfriends when we were
teenagers and dated for a few weeks. But she's really great and I'm crazy about her." Nicky and Georgina
are also childhood sweethearts. Their eight year anniversary as an
official couple was on October 8th.
Nicky said: "I first set eyes on Georgina the first day I went to
school when I was 12 or 13. I told my mother I'd seen the girl I was going
to marry. She laughed at me."
Talanted soccer player Nicky, who was on Leeds United's books as a
teenager, said after arranging a date, his next big hurdle was her
politician father.
He said: "Her dad was Minister for Finance at the time. I felt like I was living in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210!"
TAKEN FROM THE DAILY STAR NEWSPAPER
December 15
2002
Due to Shane and
Nicky being ill, Westlife are not releasing 'Miss You Nights' as a single
in January. Instead, it is going to be a B side on their next single
'Tonight' which will be released March 2003.
December 11 2002
Details of
Westlife’s biggest ever outdoor concert were announced this week. The
band will play Landsdowne Road on June 27 next year.
This is their biggest outdoor gig ever and is a certainty to sell out
fast. The tickets go on sale this Saturday, December 14.
Much speculation surrounded the dates and venues for their gigs in
Ireland. Details of their 11 shows in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast were
made known a number of weeks ago.
The band are delighted that the Dublin gig has been announced. Kian
explained just how much it means to the band: “Playing Landsdowne Road
is extra special. Myself, Mark and Shane went up there when we were
younger on a bus from Sligo to see Michael Jackson in concert. He was the
King of Pop at the time and we were very excited to see him.
“Shane was the biggest fan of us all and took a clump of the grass with
him when he left.”
And how the tides have changed. Next summer the band will take centre
stage in front of 40,000 adoring fans.
“We never thought that one day we would be playing in front of 40,000
fans.
“It’s great going into the New Year with a major tour on the back of
our Greatest Hits album.”
Last week the band shot their new video to the Cliff
Richard hit Miss You Nights. It was filmed on a set in East London.
December 4 2002
Westlife picked up 5 awards
at the Smash Hits awards on December 5th. Bryan McFadden picked up the
award for 'Party Mentalist of the Year'. Westlife were chosen as Best Pop
Band, Best International Act, Smash Hits Cover of the Year and for the
prestigious Hall of Fame Award.Westlife failed to pick up a single award
at the Top of the Pops awards. Any thought of Westlife’s cross-channel
success fading was quickly dismissed with the news that the band will
include two more dates on their UK tour which takes place next summer. The
band will be among the first acts to sample the new Wembley Arena on June
5 and will also play an additional date in the Sheffield Arena on July 21.
News taken from www.sligoweb.com , www.sligoweekender.ie and www.westlife.com