Nicky's Interviews

Nicky Westlife's Year Interview: Kim Dawson Taken From NME.COM January 2001 Is there ever a point where you feel Westlife is moving too fast? 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, 'Has 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 the came? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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? 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. 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 sustane 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.

from Cosmopolitan Magazine Issue March 2002 Nicky Byrne... on Kylie, posh women and strip poker You've been with Georgina for seven years. Do you still get excited about seeing her? Yes, of course! Seven years is a long time, but we're stronger than ever. I'm away so much, it's extra special when we do see each other. There's always something to look forward to. We've just bought a house together. Congrats! Aside from the bedroom, which is your favourite room to have sex in? It has to be the sitting room - it's like a cosy, log cabin with a big fireplace and huge cream couches, cream carpets and a plasma TV in the wall. It's amazing! When you're away do you and Georgina spend ages on the phone? We send lots of text messages and call each other at least 15 times a day - first thing in the morning, last thing at night and a thousand times in between. How did you first get together? We met at school when I was 15. My mate asked Georgina out for me, but she said no! Everyone knew her because her dad was the Minister for Finance. Georgina was so stand-offish, which made me want her more! A year later, she said yes and she's still a challenge. Which female celebrities do you find sexy? Liz Hurley is very, very sexy. I love her elegance and the fact she's quite posh. Which do you prefer - J.Lo's bum or Kylie's bum? Kylie's far more sexy. I don't find Jennifer Lopez sexy at all. Kylie was my big childhood crush. I cried when she married Scott in Neighbours and I used to have her poster on my bedroom wall. I told Kylie when I met her on CDUK last year and she just laughed. What do you consider the sexiest accent for a woman? There are three - a Liverpool accent, a posh London accent and the Northern Ireland accent. When was the last time you were drunk and disorderly? Two weeks ago at Jennifer Lopez's party in Sweden. A lot of people in the club were unhappy with our behaviour because we were knocking back shots and being lairy. Our security decided it was time for us to go, but we didn't leave until three hours later. Back at the hotel at 6am we had a huge screaming match. Our security were right of course - we were just too hammered. Have you ever flashed in a drunken moment? I played strip poker in a hotel when I was about 14. I was staying in Blackpool with my football club. We all lost at some point and ended up streaking down the corridors! If you have to give up footie or sex, which would it be? I'd have to give up football - Georgina would absolutely kill me otherwise! Do you feel sexier since going for the chop? I do now! At first it was too short and I couldn't bear to look in the mirror, but now it's grown slightly I like it. Everyone says it look really tough, really harsh - in a good way, although Georgina preferred it before. Do you think you're sexy? Sometimes, like when the five of us are dressed to kill. Today I felt good, I like the gangster vibe of the clothes, I feel my best when we're smart. Typed By: Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone

One Last Thing! From TV HITS Magazine Issue Feb 2002 Don’t go yet - Nicky ‘Life wants a lil word in ya ear! Okay Nicky, what was the LAST film you saw? ‘The Mexican‘, I watched it in Brazil about two months ago. It was really good actually - going out to see a film’s probably the only thing we can do theses days. We travel so much I’ve seen a lot films on planes recently. I usually save them ‘til we’re on tour, though. When was the LAST time you got treated to a slap-up brekkie in bed? Ooo, about seven months ago when we were on tour! I’m not that worried about breakfast - we’re always up at odd hours and go to bed late, so breakfast is whenever we have time to stop. But when I’m at home, I always pop out to the shops and get bread. I love toast and bits like that! Can you remember the LAST time you went somewhere on the bus? Erm...Well, I can honestly say I haven’t been on a bus o a train in the past years. It’s weird cos we’ve got such a busy schedule that taking public transport just doesn’t get us anywhere quickly enough. We have to use cars all the time, or we fly - obviously! What was the LAST newspaper you read? When we’re away I don’t usually read the papers but when we’re in the country I’ll always have a nose, see what’s going on in the world. As we’re in London today, I flicked through ‘The Star’, ‘The Sun’, and ‘The Mirror’ just to see what was going on only cos they were hanging about. I never buy ‘em myself! When was the LAST time you went out for the night with Georgina? Well, we were going to go out to the cinema to see ‘American Pie II’ in Dublin a few months ago, but I was driving the car up to the car park and we both saw the queue. There were about 300 people standing outside. I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of people taking the mick out of me, so we both decided we’d give it a miss and went out for dinner instead. What about the LAST time you pushed a trolley round the shops? That’s a tricky one. I went big supermarkets shopping about two months ago. It was the last time I can remember actually staying in the shop for more than half an hour. People recognise us a lot and it becomes impossible to do most normal things. I pop into a shop most days to get bread and milk, stuff like that but I try to avoid the big supermarkets when I know they’ll be really busy. When did you LAST have your barnet sniped? While we were recording the ‘Queen Of My Heart’ video a few months back. Do I like it this short? I’m liking it now, but I thought it looked very harsh at first - I thought it made me look a bit hard. It’s funny cos I just told the director I was thinking of having my hair shaved off and he said he’d incorporate it into the video. I don’t know why cos it didn’t really make much sense! When did you LAST cook posh nosh for someone? Ooh! I couldn’t even tell you. It was so long ago! I do have an excuse - our kitchen hasn’t been fitted in our new house yet, so either we’ll go round Georgina’s mam’s house for dinner or we’ll eat out or get out favourite - take-away! MY LAST WORD FOR THIS ISH IS...Ireland! I have scanned 1 nicky pic related to this interview in "Scanned Pics from Magazines" album And also have scanned Nicky Poster!! Typed By Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone

When A Man Loves A Woman - Westlife Official Magazine Issue 7 We turn the lights down low and invite Westlife to talk about all things to do with luuurve… NICKY What first attracted you to Georgina? Georgina was a very cute, innocent, sweet girl. I felt like Leo Di Caprio in Titanic, where the not-so-well-off lad is trying to get with the Posh girl whose father is important. I thought she was beautiful and she had the most amazing eyes that I'd ever seen. When was the first time you saw her? I saw her across the classroom at school. And straight away I had to have her. It wasn't easy. I had to wait about four years! So Georgina didn't fancy you!? I asked a friend to ask her out. She said no, the bitch! Nah, it wasn't great - but it was cool. How did you end up getting together then? My best mate Cos asked her best mate Anita. I had no idea because I was at football training! When he told me, I was upset - I didn't want to be rejected twice! So I went to school early to stop Anita saying anything - but it was too late! Georgina had already said Yes! Did you have a first date? She said yes on the Friday, and we went to a party the next night. It was my birthday the next day. I would have been just turned sixteen. What's the best compliment she's given you? I dunno! Erm, I think she likes my personality. And I think she thinks I'm OK looking - I hope so anyway! We just have fun together, it's a good laugh. What's the most romantic date you have been on? We've been on loads! We've been to New York together, we've been to Paris and all over Europe in fact. We've had so many dinners in so many Dublin restaurants, and candlelit dinners at home and nights in with a takeaway and a video, everything is romantic if you're with the right person. Is it difficult to be apart so much? Obviously we phone all the time - you only realise what you've got when you're away. You don't take things for granted. If Westlife are working in Europe Georgina will sometimes fly out for a day or two. Do you carry anything of Georgina's with you? I've got a picture in my wallet - oh no, there's one's of my, here, this one! A fan gave me this a few days ago and I've kept it in my pocket ever since. I'm so glad the fans can be happy for us, we appreciate that support. How did it feel when you moved in together? It was exciting, we'd wanted it for so long. But now it's quite stressful - it doesn't feel like our house yet because there are builders everywhere. And we're arguing over where to put the furniture! Georgina thinks she's in charge! She won't let me watch football! But I think she's just making a point so I don't spend the rest of our lives with the remote control in me hand! What does the future hold? Surprises. I hope it's a) healthy and b) happy. I want to be settled. Wealth isn't important, and I know I might not always be able to live this lifestyle. One day I'll have to decide - will I try for a solo career? Do I want to work again? Do I want to sit around on my arse playing golf? I hope Georgina will support me whatever. (Which option is most likely?) Erm, sitting on my arse, I think, ha ha ha!

Issue 5 - Hotmail with Nicky Why did you and Georgina decide to pose for Hello! Magazine? Because they asked us if we wanted to do it, and the pictures were nice, and we got paid! The pictures were taken in France, in a beautiful old castle. What are you spending most of your money on? Well, most of my Hello! money is going on my new house! Firstly, I had to buy it, and now I’ve got to do it up! You know - furniture is very, very expensive. A lot more expensive that I ever imagined to be honest, and we need like, lots of chairs and things. And paint - the cost of paint! Shockin’ I tell ya. I’m like, ‘£14.95 for a tin of paint? How about a tenner and an autograph?’ What does your new house look like? It’s three thousand square foot altogether, which is quite big. There are four bedrooms already, then I’m gonna build an extension as well, because I would like to have a snooker room and a bar. (Are you gonna have a swimming pool with your initials tiled into the bottom?) Nah, I don’t want to be flash. And I can’t swim. I don’t want the swimming pool but I’d like to have a sauna or a jacuzzi. There’s still loads of work to do, so I’m gonna change it all around before we even start on the decoration. How are you going to spend your days off? I can’t wait for my days off and I shall be spending them in B&Q somewhere like that. I shall while away the merry hours painting and decorating and looking at colour schemes. Do you have to be better behaved because Georgina’s dad’s got a fancy job? No, I just be myself. If I felt the need to be better behaved, you’d think I’d act differently to the way I do act now, wouldn’t you? I’ve very used to the idea that Georgina’s dad has an important job in politics, so I hardly ever think about it. Occasionally it hits me and I think ‘wow!’ but not often. Do you have any lucky charms? I used to have lucky socks – but I don’t wear them anymore. In fact I used to have lots of lucky charms, like prayers and devotional medals and rosary beads, and presents from my dad. When I was a goalkeeper I carried them around in a little glove bag, which I would always take into the back of the goal with me. I still have it at home in fact. Why won’t Westlife release I Lay My Love On You in the UK and Ireland? It was all just a matter of timing. We had to put a single out everywhere and although we’d planned for ‘Lay My Love…’, ‘Uptown Girl’ was a more suitable single for the Comic Relief campaign in the UK and Ireland so we went for that. ‘Uptown Girl’ was never meant to be released anywhere else, but when our record company in other countries hear it, they wanted to put that out there too. Timing is important for that to be honest witcha. I think ‘When You’re Looking Like That’ will be out here next. What clothes do you think looks sexy on a girl? Erm, lots of things! I like a girl who looks quite classy, quite dressed up, but not tacky. I like nice skirts, and erm, g strings in Cadbury’s purple! How old were you when you got your tattoo and where did you get it? I think I was 21…it was two years ago. I was in Sydney, Australia with the rest of the guys on one of our first trips aboard. It’s a Celtic design, just for fun. No hidden meanings or anything. If you could have one wish what would you wish for? I dunno. Just health and happiness for all my family, really. You can have all the fancy stuff but there’s no point having money or success if you haven’t the health to enjoy it. If I was coming to Dublin on holiday where would you suggest I visit? I’d say to go out to Malahide village, maybe stop off and get something to eat there, maybe go into town and check out Grafton Street there, do a bit of shopping. St. Stephen’s Green park is nice. Pheonix park is cool, it’s the biggest park in Europe and you can go to the zoo there - I’ve been myself many a time, oh yes. Dunleary, Bray, they’re all easy to get to and by the seaside. Millions of choices! What is your top item of clothing? Well I have lots of clothes so I don’t know – I get bored of clothes very quickly. At the moment I prefer to be in jeans and a TV shirt – whatever is comfy. Typed By Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone

In Too Deep? with Nicky Do you ever feel homesick? I do, yes. Whenever I'm away. But I'm alright at the moment because I've just been home for two weeks recently - I've filled back up on Dublin and don't mind being away again for a little while. It's hard though. It was hard nearing the end of the tour, probably in Italy was the worst, and in Naples it really hit me. I just missed me mam and my family, and my friends, and home cooking. Do you find you get angry often? Ah, sure I do. I'm quite easy going mostly, but you know, we all get tired sometimes, wouldn't be human otherwise! The last time? About five minutes ago! Nah, about ten minutes ago when we were going to do some photos and I realized I didn't have the right clothes with me to wear. Not pleased. When you have some downtime, will we ever catch you reading a book? I'm reading Tony Cascarino's biography at the minute. Well sort of. OK, I've only read a page of it but I'm intending to read more, I like Tony - he seems like a sound guy. It was quite interesting actually. It told how much he made over his ten year footballing career and then said how much he had left! Do you put the kettle on for a cuppa? All the time! Of course I do, what else would I do? Otherwise, I'd die of thirst. I do it at home and then sometimes hotel rooms have kettles as well. Makes it more homey. In fact I just made a cup five minutes ago!! When did you last see a doctor? I went to the doctor's about my foot last week. It had been annoying me for ages but I hadn't got round to sorting it till I went home to Ireland. I think I damaged it when I jumped off a step onto a stage in Israel. I went to an orthopedic surgeon who x-rayed it and said I have a stress fracture on my heel. It's too late to get a cast on though, it's half-healed itself already. What's your favourite way to get some exercise? Eh, well I play snooker, that's almost exercise, does that count at all? I'm sure you have to make about a mile around the table, don't ya? Am I any good at snooker? I'm not bad. I reckon my highest break is 37. How often do you get to sleep in your own bed? Ah, there's nothing else like it, is there? Let's just say not often enough. You just get a better night's sleep at home - so not last night but the night before I was there, snoring away. Um, I mean, no, I don't snore. Obviously! What's the most successful way to feel completely refreshed? Don't be in a pop band! The last time I felt ready for anything would probably have turned out to be about, um, four years ago! Yep, it's taking it out of me, absolutely. The longer things go on without some time off the more your tiredness builds up. We need lots of holidays! How often do you tell lies? Sometimes, but not often. It's easier to keep the peace, isn't it, to tell little white lies but I would never lie about anything important. It's not worth getting found out! Have you ever sworn at a fan? Honestly, I don't really do it. I don't. I'm not always feeling great but I haven't done anything like that for a long time. If I'm going to swear, I curse at meself - but it's not fair to curse at them. I do it under me breath. Can you still hold your own on the football field? Well, you see I'm injured now, aren't I? I can't play again for ages, I'm out of the game for a month! But I'm meant to be doing a five-a-side football match soon for charity, I hope I'm better for that. Do you visit your granny as much as you should? I do! I go when I can when I'm home. It's very important. And nothing to do with the fact my gran makes me my favourite dinner - roast potatoes, cabbage, chicken, mushy peas, stuffing, that's lovely. Yes, all on the same plate. When was the last time you saw the inside of the supermarket? All the time! Well, I've gotta eat, haven't I? I was there yesterday in fact - and bought a huge bottle of strawberry Yop (yoghurt-y drink thing). It's beautiful. Would you ever stand in the queue at McDonalds? I haven't had McDonalds in about 4 weeks. To be honest, I don't wait in the queue much. In fact I haven't done that in a long time. Why should anyone, after all... because the drive-thru is much quicker! Do you overindulge in the disco ribena department? Eh, I do. You can't do it too much through when you're working all hours or you'll get run down. But I went out for me mam and dad's 28th wedding anniversary the other week with the family. We had a lovely meal and a few glasses of vino, very good. Are you good at saying "I love you"? Yeah, I think so, I do it all the time! Especially when I'm away and I miss her. Then it's 'I love you and I want to come home!' Are you the kind of man who's not afraid to cry? Not really. I don't think it's so much that I'm afraid to, but I haven't cried in a long time. I cried that we hadn't seen you Westlife Official guys in a while cos we've been overseas, obviously! Do you need to be reminded to phone your mum? Nope, cos I just did it last night. So I am a good son, I am, I am! How often do you feel completely alone? It depends. I can feel that way quite a bit. Sometimes it can be a positive thing and sometimes it can be bad. I was driving home to my house through Malahide the other day, and I felt very alone. It made me feel a bit low so I speeded up home to get to my family! How often do you feel completely happy? Again, it comes and goes. On stage watching the fans' faces makes me very happy, when you realise what we've achieved all over again. But nothing could make me happier than that night at dinner with me mam and dad. That's the best. Absolutely Typed By Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone