article by Wil Marlow

Nicky Byrne isn't a big fan of photo shoots. The singer and his Westlife cohorts have just finished getting snapped in a snooker club in north London and Nicky's more than a little relieved.

"I don't like them," he says. "They're a bit monotonous. You have to wait while they get the light right and all that."

Kian Egan, however, has been enjoying himself. "These ones are quite fun because they're different," says the 24-year-old.

The boys have been posing by snooker tables all suited and booted with their hair slicked back for a magazine shoot to promote their recent Rat Pack covers album Allow Us To Be Frank.

As well as the slightly unusual surroundings, the shoot has also been given some added excitement by the glamorous and very leggy models whom the boys flirt with afterwards when the girls show them their portfolios.

Nicky's only partly convinced by Kian's argument. "It depends what you're doing," shrugs the 26-year-old. "If you're doing something like this it's OK, but if you're just standing there with a backdrop it's boring."

Life in Westlife over the past year has been anything but boring, however. In March they were stunned by the news that Brian was leaving the band and the remaining members, who also include Shane Filan and Mark Feehily, had to get used to being a foursome pretty quickly with a massive arena tour ahead of them.

"Doing the tour was good," says 25-year-old Shane. "That gave us confidence as a band. We get on with each other as good as we did when Brian was here, we're fine without him.

"Of course we do miss him. But we still see him a lot and talk to him on the phone. We miss him as a person in the band - you spend five years with someone, you're going to miss them, obviously. But we're a band and we don't have time to miss anybody. We've got to focus on what we're doing, on this album, that's the most important thing. Just because we lost a member of the band doesn't mean we lost a friend."

They've watched Brian's solo career with interest. They (predictably) say they liked his No 1 song Real To Me, but are keen to point out that, though Brian wrote it about his time in Westlife, they don't really relate to the lyrics.

They've also watched Brian's marriage to Kerry McFadden fall apart, something that must have come as a shock to them after Brian said he was leaving to spend more time with his family.

"Brian's our friend and Kerry's our friend," says Nicky. "We've always given them all the support and love in the world, as we are with what they're going through now. I don't know what's going to happen to them in the future but that's none of our business. We just give them support, what else can you do?"

"We wish both of them the best," agrees Mark. "That's the important thing." Meanwhile the band had been planning their own comeback in the wake of Brian's departure. A mooted duets album with some of the biggest names in pop -including Lionel Richie, Diana Ross and Rod Stewart - quickly fell by the wayside.

"It wouldn't have worked," says Nicky. "We couldn't have toured it and whatever single you picked you'd have to make sure the other artist was available for promotion. We found out how difficult that was when we did the single with Mariah Carey."

Instead Westlife have gone in another direction. While filming a TV show in Ireland, someone pointed out how much they looked like the Rat Pack. From then on, the idea of a Rat Pack album began to come into fruition.

The boys' A&R man, one Simon Cowell, liked the idea and set the ball rolling. Now the band have immersed themselves in the world of Frank Sinatra et al, and recently went out to Las Vegas to film the video for their version of Nat King Cole's Smile.

While in Vegas they hit the casinos with plenty of enthusiasm, though only Kian came off well, winning over a 1,000 dollars. But that was as far as the band went in recreating the Rat Pack's legendary excesses. "The four of us connect with what they were - really good friends who enjoyed doing what they do together," says Kian. "But as far as the [debauchery] is concerned I think we're slightly different."

This may be as much to do with the presence of Nicky and Shane's wives, Georgina and Gillian, on the trip as it is with the boys' sensibility. The other two, Kian and the eternally single Mark, have yet to get married. Recent reports that Kian's actress girlfriend Jodi Albert is leaving Hollyoaks to set up home with the singer in Dublin are, he says, completely untrue.

"I don't live in Dublin for a start," he laughs. "And she's not the kind of girl to leave a job to be with a fella, she's leaving to further her career. We're not thinking about marriage at all," he adds. "I mean, it could be on the cards, but not for a long, long time."

For now, Kian and the others are concentrating on making the Allow Us To Be Frank album as big a success as their previous releases. They'll be unavoidable on TV over Christmas and even have their own show Westlife - She's The One.

The programme follows the story of Westlife's search for a female vocalist to sing with them on their version of The Way You Look Tonight. They eventually decided on Bolton lass Joanne Hindley.

"The standard of entries was really high," says Shane. "But Joanne has a brilliant voice. Simon Cowell helped us choose, so you know she's going to be good. We broke the news to her in the supermarket with her mum."

With a big arena tour also pencilled in for early next year, the boys certainly aren't resting on their laurels since Brian's departure. "Everyone's been waiting to see whether Westlife will be successful without Brian," says Kian. "But we did the tour without him and our fans reacted amazingly well.

"So hopefully it's not affected us too badly. We're just going to have to wait and see how well this album does. But we reckon it's going to be OK."

Name: Westlife
Date of birth: Formed in 1998. Nicky was born October 9, 1978, Shane July 5, 1979, Kian April 29, 1980, Mark May 28, 1980
Significant others: Nicky is married to Georgina, Shane to Gillian, Kian is dating Hollyoaks actress Jodi Albert and Mark is single
Career high: Being the only act to reach No 1 with their first seven singles
Career low: Brian's departure prompting yet more gossip about the band splitting
Famous for: Singing while sitting on stools

Words of wisdom: Kian: "We don't want to split up yet and I think the fact that we grew up together has an awful lot to do with that."

article © Mykindaplace.com 2004