WESTLIFE'S BRYAN MCFADDEN AND ATOMIC KITTEN KERRY KATONA REVEAL THEIR SECRET ENGAGEMENT
It's been pop's best-kept secret. Westlife heart-throb Bryan McFadden and Kerry Katona from feline threesome Atomic Kitten are to tie the knot. But the besotted couple, who plan to marry in July of next year, have only now decided to come out into the open about their romance.
"My record company doesn't have a clue we're announcing it," says Bryan, a strapping 6ft 2in to Kerry's petite 5ft 3in. "But it's about time we spoke for ourselves."
"Never mind our engagement," adds Kerry, who comes from Warrington, "even the romance itself was kept a secret until three or four months ago."
"My record company and my manager and the band were totally against me coming out publicly about Kerry," says Bryan. "They thought it would damage Westlife's popularity, and then Kerry's people thought it would damage her popularity. If we were staying in a hotel, we wouldn't even open the door for room service. We worried that if they saw us, they'd tip off the papers."
The two madly in love 20-year-old stars have just celebrated the first anniversary of the rainy, windswept day on which Bryan popped the question at a lonely castle in Donegal. What's more, the romantic Irishman has proposed twice - the second time being last September - and his future bride proudly wears two engagement rings on her wedding finger to prove it.
The lovers' decision to tell all comes at a time when Westlife, having notched up seven consecutive number one hits, and after winning six awards at December's Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, can rightly lay claim to the title of Britain's biggest pop act.
The awards came just after the boys - Bryan, Kian Egan, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne - walked off with ITV's Record of the Year award for the second year running, with My Love. As for Kerry, Liz McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton of Atomic Kitten, who had Top 10 hits with Right Now and See Ya, they released their debut album, also called Right Now, two months ago.
Bryan and Kerry met up at London's glamorous Home House to talk exclusively to Hello! of their romance - and be pictured for their first-ever formal photo-shoot together.
LET'S BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING - HOW DID IT ALL START FOR THE TWO OF YOU?
Kerry: "We met in August 1999 when Westlife and Atomic Kitten were doing a Smash Hits tour together. The first time I ever saw Bryan and he asked me out I said no. I wasn't attracted to him."
Bryan: "It's funny, all the guys in the band had asked her out, and so I knew she was going to say no because she'd said no to all the others."
WHAT IS YOUR FIRST ACTUAL MEMORY OF EACH OTHER?
Kerry: "He was standing outside a lift. He was in a black polo-neck and he had long floppy hair. I remember looking up really high at him, because he's so tall and I'm quite little."
Bryan: "I heard the lift go ding, the doors opening and this girl in a bomber jacket and big woolly boots ran out. I heard her chatting and I turned round and she came up to me."
Kerry: "Being dead cheeky, I went up to him and said, 'Hiya! I'm Kerry from Atomic Kitten and my mate Liz is a really big fan of Westlife. He kind of looked at me really weird."
HOW DID IT GO FROM THERE?
Kerry: Well, two weeks later, having got to know each other, we ended up having our first kiss. We were in the hotel having this conversation. Most guys would be pitching you with their eyes, but Bryan sat down and he listened. He was so funny, and he made me laugh. That was it. We had our first kiss - and then we lost touch."
Bryan: "Even though we'd both had too much to drink, I knew the first time I kissed Kerry that there was something there. But the next day, sadly, she left with Atomic Kitten for Japan."
WHEN DID YOU MEET UP AGAIN?
Kerry: "In November. Our bands went on another tour and we just started seeing each other as friends. I was single and I wasn't looking for a relationship. I knew Bryan was with somebody else by this time. Even so, we were getting on really well, flirting with each other and everything.
"Our bands then went to a party in Glasgow, but the girls in Atomic Kitten weren't allowed to be seen with any boys. I really liked Bryan but I thought: 'No, he's not interested in me because he's with somebody else.'
"And then at one point during the party he said, 'I really like you.' I said, 'Well you've got a girlfriend - the ball's in your court.'"
Bryan: "The girl I was with was nice, but I knew the minute I sat down and talked to Kerry that she was the one I wanted. I left the party straight after that and finished with my girlfriend."
Kerry: "We then had our first proper dating kiss. I'll never forget it. It was November 27."
WHAT DID YOU BEGIN TO DISCOVER ABOUT EACH OTHER THAT YOU REALLY LIKED?
Bryan: "I thought she was wild, nuts, a real party animal. To be honest with you - and she's going to hate me for saying this - I thought she was going to be a dumb blonde. But then I sat and talked to her and realised how wrong I was, and how deep and intellectual she was, and is. Funny as well."
Kerry: "I tend not to trust people, but I trusted Bryan from the start. I could tell he really loved me. He'd get to bed at two in the morning from filming, and he'd have to be up for five o'clock, but he'd walk from his hotel to my hotel just to see me for two hours, and he'd arrange a big breakfast for us. No boyfriend had ever done anything like that for me before."
Bryan: "From the moment I saw Kerry, I really liked her. She was gorgeous, amazing looking, with these big brown eyes. The first time we kissed was when I fell in love with her."
AND WHEN DID YOU REALISE THAT SHE WAS THE GIRL YOU WANTED TO MARRY?
Bryan: "It was one night in December after she'd done her back in. broke her coccyx."
Kerry: "I was due to see the doctors in London and I was really nervous about it as I checked into the hotel. As I got there I could hardly walk. Bryan gave me these pyjamas, which he told me to change into after he'd given me a wash. He put me in bed and covered me up. It was then that we both knew we were meant for each other."
WERE YOU DYING TO INTRODUCE EACH OTHER TO YOUR RESPECTIVE PARENTS?
Kerry: "My mum and Bryan's mum and dad are chalk and cheese."
Bryan: "I grew up in a totally normal middle-class background. We were straight out of The Partridge Family."
Kerry: "My mum never had a proper family to love her. All her life she's had to defend herself. When I was born, my mum didn't know how to be a mum which is a godsend now because we are best mates and I love her more than anything in the world. I was brought up by various foster parents, and I got put into care at 13."
SO. WHEN YOU MET EACH OTHER'S PARENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME, WHAT HAPPENED?
Kerry: "The first time I met his parents really properly was on December 27, 1999, when I went over to Ireland to see in the New Year with Bryan. When I got to his house there were about 14 people there, this extended family of brothers, sisters, nieces and cousins, and I was so nervous, dead scared. His parents are lovely people and I just wanted them to like me. I was so much in love with Bryan that I didn't want anything to ruin what we had between us."
Bryan: "I love Kerry's mum. She lives the life of a 20-year-old, goes to clubs, has a laugh, sits with the lads."
TELL US ABOUT HOW AND WHEN BRYAN PROPOSED.
Bryan: "The wheels were set in motion on Christmas Eve, 1999. I was on the phone to Kerry, and we were besotted with each other. I told Kerry that I definitely wanted to marry her. She said, 'I want to marry you.'"
Kerry: "So I flew over to Ireland on December 27 and the next day we drove to Donegal, which is about four hours from Dublin, and eventually pulled up outside Doe Castle.
"He took my hand and we climbed over this fence. He said, 'Do you know why I've brought you here?' I said, 'no.' He said, 'This is the spot where my granddad proposed to my nana.' He then got down on his knees, pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him. I said 'Yes!'
"As soon as I could get to a phone I called my mum to tell her - but she already knew. Bryan had phoned her beforehand to ask her if he could marry me, which I thought was very nice."
TELL US ABOUT THE ENGAGEMENT RING.
Kerry: Well, it was ten times too big for my finger and we had to have it altered to fit me. It's more like a wedding ring, and it means more to me than the second ring."
WHAT SECOND RING?
Bryan: "We were already engaged, of course, but to reassure her that the first time wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment thing, I asked her a second time if she would marry me. This was nine months after the first time. She said: 'Yes! Definitely!' And I gave her a white-gold engagement ring with a criss-cross and a diamond in the middle."
Kerry: "I wore the first ring from day one, and I've worn both rings on the same finger from the day he gave me the second one."
WHEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET MARRIED?
Bryan: "We want a summer wedding, but it can't be this year because of the Westlife concerts: I don't want to take a day out of the tour to go and get married. It's going to take a long time to plan everything. We want to gave everybody there, then go on a honeymoon."
Kerry: "We're not going to get married quickly just for the sake of it. It will be a fairytale white wedding in Ireland, hopefully at the castle where we got engaged. Everybody who loves me and Bryan will be there. It will be every girl's dream wedding, the biggest wedding I could ever imagine."
I HEAR YOU'RE HOUSE-HUNTING FOR THE MARITAL HOME.
Bryan: "Yes, we're just about to buy a £1million house in Ireland. We've got to work for that. Our dream house is the sort where there are huge gates to the property, with a long driveway leading to this massive mansion."
CAN YOU ENVISAGE THE DAY WHEN THERE'LL BE CHILDREN RUNNING AROUND THAT MANSION HOME?
Kerry: "Definitely, and we've already got names for them. Our first girl will be called Molly, because it's a really cute and girlie name, and our first little boy will be called Dylan James; James is Bryan's grandfather's name. Bryan adores kids, and so do I - before I entered pop music I wanted to be a nanny."
Bryan: "Kerry's going to be a brilliant mum. Because she grew up with so many foster parents and stuff, and because she didn't have a proper childhood, she wants to make sure her kids have the best life possible."
BRYAN WAS ONCE ASKED TO DESCRIBE HIMSELF IN THREE WORDS AND HE SAID "FUNNY, SHY, IRISH". IS THAT A GOOD SUMMARY, KERRY?
"Yes, he's very funny, fairly shy, and very Irish. But it's not so much shyness as the fact that he's a gentleman. And he's very Irish in that, like every Irish person I've ever met, he's so genuine."
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN, KERRY, TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS!
"Believe it or not, I can be shy, paranoid and insecure, so I don't know what Bryan thinks about that description."
Bryan: "Can I describe her in three words? Generous, beautiful, tomboy. Her generosity is one of the qualities I admire her so much for. I used to think so many girls were beautiful - until I went out with Kerry, and now every woman pales in comparison. There's something in her eyes, just everything about her. In my eyes, she's pure perfection. And, of course, she's one of the lads. She'll come out with the five of us from Westlife and just fit in like a boy. She's got three personas: her stage persona, her tomboy persona. and her 'dead posh' persona when she talks to my mum!"
WHY DO YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GOOD FOR EACH OTHER?
Bryan: "Because we're both funny and make each other laugh."
Kerry: "We're like a comedy act, a sort of Laurel and Hardy. Forget Posh and Becks, we're the best couple in the world!"
Bryan: "But we don't want to be known as the new 'in' couple. The reason we're happy doing this interview is because we've never talked about our relationship before and we want to put on record the true story of how we feel about each other."
IF THE FAIRY GODMOTHER IN PANTO COULD GRANT YOU ONE WISH, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE?
Bryan: "That I'll die before Kerry. If I ever lost her. well, I just can't imagine life without her. She is my life, fullstop. Everything I plan, everything I do, revolves around Kerry. When I wake up in the morning, she's the first person I call.
"I've written a song about her called Fragile Heart. I write songs for Kerry every day; I get so much emotion thinking about her."
Kerry: "He'll come home and say, 'I've written this song today,' and it's been inspired by me. I've lost count of how many songs he's written about me.
"I don't want to wish my life away, but my wish is that we succeed in buying the house of our dreams and that Bryan and I have two lovely children. I'll have a proper husband, and we'll be a proper family. We lead a fantastic life but, when we go home, we want our life together to be as normal as possible."
Bryan: "Next year we'll be a lot more 'normal'. We'll be Mr and Mrs McFadden."