Читать книгу Kerry - Emily Herbert - Страница 9

Bryan McFadden was born on 12 April 1980 into an Irish, middle-class family, something he once described as ‘straight out of The Partridge Family’. Like Kerry, Bryan was a singer, in his case with the massively successful band Westlife. It was quite a step up in the world; he had once had a job in McDonald’s, earning £150 a week.

Westlife had originally come about after its three founding members – Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Mark Feehily – all from Sligo in Ireland, had taken part in a local production of the musical Grease. The three performed so well that they were encouraged to form their own band and so, joined by three other acting friends, they set up an outfit called IOU, which was later changed to Westside.

As with the Atomic Kittens, success came quickly. Shane and Mark wrote a song called ‘Together Girl Forever’, made a demo tape of it and sent it to Louis Walsh, who had been the manager of the boy band Boyzone and who was currently looking for a new band to take their place. He liked their sound and signed them up to support the US band Backstreet Boys when they played Dublin, after which there was a change in the line-up. Three of the original members departed and Bryan and Nicky Byrne, both from Dublin, joined the group.

In February 1999, just as the Kittens were slowly beginning to emerge, they held a showcase at London’s Café de Paris. Another name change shortly ensued, this time to Westlife, after they’d heard several US outfits were already called Westside. Their début release in May that year, ‘Swear It Again’, went straight to Number One; so did their four subsequent singles, something that made musical history.

Bryan and Kerry actually met in August 1999 when the Kittens and Westlife did a Smash Hits tour together and, for him, at least, it was love at first sight. ‘He was standing outside a lift,’ said Kerry later, recalling the first time she set eyes on him. ‘He was in a black polo neck and he had long, floppy hair. I remember looking up really high at him, because he’s tall and I’m quite little.’

‘I heard the lift go “Ding”, the doors opening and this girl in a bomber jacket and bog woolly boots ran out,’ added Bryan. ‘I heard her chatting and I turned round and she came up to me.’

‘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 looked at me really weird.’

On another occasion, Kerry joked that she hadn’t initially recognised him. ‘I met him just before Christmas 1999,’ Kerry said later. ‘I didn’t have a clue who he was. Then I found out how famous and wealthy he was, and I thought, “He’s just the man for me.”’

Indeed, Bryan had to work quite hard to get Kerry to agree to go out with him. ‘Bryan asked me out five times on the night we met,’ she revealed. ‘But I told him that just because he was in a boy band didn’t mean that he had what it takes to go out with me. But he was very caring and very sensitive and he made me laugh a lot.’

‘It’s funny, all the guys in the band had asked her out,’ Bryan said, ‘and so I knew she was going to say no because she’d said no to all the others.’

As it happened, the two became friends before anything started properly between them. ‘Two weeks later, having got to know each other, we ended up having our first kiss,’ Kerry revealed. ‘We were in the hotel having this conversation. Most guys would be pitching you with their eyes, but Bryan sat down and listened. He was so funny and he made me laugh. That was it. We had our first kiss … and then we lost touch.’

‘Even though we’d both had too much to drink, I knew the first time I kissed Kerry that there was something there,’ said Bryan. ‘But the next day, sadly, she left with Atomic Kitten for Japan.’

Leaving for Japan was something Kerry was doing quite regularly at that stage. It was more than likely, though, that the two of them would meet up again, given that they played the same sort of gigs and, indeed, they did, that November. ‘Our bands went on another tour and we just started seeing each other as friends,’ said Kerry. ‘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 didn’t have any spare time for 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.”’

‘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,’ said Bryan. ‘I left the party straight after that and finished with my girlfriend.’

By this time, the attraction was absolutely mutual. ‘I thought she was wild, nuts, a real party animal,’ said Bryan. ‘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 was equally enthused about her new boyfriend. ‘I tend not to trust people, but I trusted Bryan from the start,’ she said. ‘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.’

Now that the relationship had finally begun, it quickly became extremely serious. ‘He proposed to me after just three weeks and I knew he was the one – he’s the most genuine, down-to-earth person I’ve met in the music business and he’s so caring and loving,’ Kerry said. Proposal or not, of course, it was some time before the two were to become openly engaged. Indeed, it was some time before they were even openly a couple; for both their sakes, the relationship stayed very much in the shadows for many months to come.

Bryan later recalled that he first realised he wanted to marry Kerry when she broke her coccyx that December. Kerry remembered it as a turning point, too. ‘I was due to see the doctors in London and I was really nervous about it as I checked into the hotel,’ she said. ‘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.’

Despite being in such a serious relationship, however, Bryan and Kerry let it slip out that while they might have briefly dated, by now they were merely good friends. They had no option other than to do so. Both were to reveal later that both sets of record labels were not that delighted at the turn of events, given that both stars were more marketable if they were single, and so they played everything down. Only their very closest family and friends knew what was really going on behind the scenes – that they had actually decided to get married – and it was to be a long time before the engagement became public knowledge.

By April, Atomic Kitten were on tour as the support band for Steps, something that took them to Dublin. But Kerry was keen to scotch any rumours that she and Bryan were back together. ‘Bryan and I are not together and I’ve been far too busy for boys,’ she said firmly. ‘When we were going out, though, I never got any hassle from Westlife fans – they were fantastic and our fans were brilliant as well. I was pretty made up with it actually, but unfortunately he’s busy and I’m busy. We’re still friends, though. I know a few people in Ireland so while I’m here I’ll probably go out and see a few friends, have a few drinks, have some craic as they say in Ireland.’

But it was not impossible to be both the member of a band and to have a relationship, as none other than Kerry’s fellow Atomic Kitten was to prove. In June 2000, Liz became engaged to her childhood sweetheart, a 23-year-old warehouse supervisor called Tom Hibbs, whom she had met when she was just twelve. ‘We’re not going to get married just yet – I think I’m a bit too young for that – but it’s nice to be engaged,’ she said. ‘I have liked him since I was twelve and we were best mates before we started seeing each other. Our relationship is great – I love him so much.’

And on the thorny subject of managing to combine both business and pleasure, she was adamant that it could be done. ‘I laugh when I hear famous people say they can’t have a relationship because they are in showbiz and things are so hectic,’ she said. ‘If you want it to work, it will work. Being in a band hasn’t affected our relationship or how I feel about Tommy. It just means it can get expensive because of all the travelling and the phone calls, but neither of us wants to split.’ So it seemed that a genuinely loving and long-lasting relationship was possible after all.

Kerry at this stage seemed to be in an increasingly playful mood. For a start, she claimed to have a crush on Rod Stewart. ‘I think he is incredibly sexy and I love his songs,’ she said. ‘The first thing I’ll say when I meet him is, “If you think I’m sexy, do you want my body?” Because I’m blonde I could be in with a chance. I can’t wait for us to become an item. I’m determined to make it happen.’ Hardly pausing for breath, she was then seen out with Dan Corsi, the singer from Northern Line.

Bryan also appeared to be casting around for a new romance, in his case with the pop star Billie Piper, who had recently split from her long-term boyfriend Ritchie Neville. ‘I’ve dated some girls in the pop business and it hasn’t worked out because of my busy schedule,’ he remarked. ‘But I’d definitely like to go out with Billie. She’s a great-looking girl with a nice personality. I’ve got her phone number, so I’ll call her soon. Right now we are good friends. We frequently bump into each other at music events, but if the chemistry was right, I’d like it to be more.’ As an item, Kerry and Bryan seemed to be a thing of the past – until, that is, they were caught kissing at a party.

It can’t have been easy for them, not least because both were now the focus of so much attention. Apart, they made good headline material, but together, as Victoria Adams and David Beckham had already discovered, they were sensational. Both were young and attractive, so they had both – but especially Bryan – quickly become the target for over-enthusiastic fans. Indeed, a story emerged that when Bryan was touring in Florida, he opened his hotel door to find two naked 18-year-old girls sprawled out on the bed waiting for him. Bryan promptly called security.

‘It’s the biggest shock I’ve had so far in Westlife, although it may seem funny to some people,’ he said. ‘At the end of the day, they didn’t mean any harm. I think they just got a bit carried away.’ A spokeswoman for the band confirmed that this is what had happened. ‘He doesn’t know how the girls got in. It must have been quite scary,’ she said. ‘Most hot-blooded men would take longer to call security, but Bryan did the right thing immediately. Westlife have fans throwing themselves at them, so these two girls wouldn’t have interested Bryan. The rest of the lads had a good laugh about it and found it very funny.’

As for the girls themselves, they asked if they could stay, but were escorted from the premises by security. Rather more seriously, they had also been seen going through Bryan’s address book. ‘One of them was leafing through my phone diary and writing down numbers,’ said Bryan. ‘I’ve had to ring loads of people, including Mariah Carey and Ronan Keating, to tell them their phone numbers may have been discovered by the girls.’

There was some ribaldry, in the wake of that, about men who get alarmed by finding naked women in their bedroom, but security was becoming a serious issue for both Westlife and Atomic Kitten. The latter had played at Tranmere Football Club in June and were subjected to an attempted attack. A man pretending to know them had tried to get close to the girls. ‘When we played at Tranmere, this guy was trying to get it on with security, making out he was one of our boyfriends and trying to get backstage,’ said Kerry. ‘He didn’t get in but they gave us a police escort out of the show just in case he did anything. And he was there saying, “I’ll be back.” It was pretty scary – I hope he doesn’t come back.’ Shortly afterwards, it emerged that they were receiving strange letters. ‘We have been getting letters like you see in the movies with the words cut out of newspapers, which is weird,’ Kerry said.

Meanwhile, the Kittens’ star continued to soar in the Far East. By the middle of the year, they had become Japan’s biggest new international act, judged both by their profile and by the sales of their records. But Japan was not alone in its admiration of the girls; their following in the Orient had become so huge that MTV put them at the forefront of MTV Asia’s new campaign, which launched in June. Not content with that, they performed at the MTV Asia Awards alongside Alanis Morissette and Aqua, a performance that was seen by 675 million people.

As Kerry’s fame grew, it was inevitable that there was an increased interest in her past life. She had been quite open about her years in Care, but was rather less pleased when her early foray into topless modelling came to light. Pictures emerged in some of the papers, along with reports about the fact that she’d been a lap-dancer. She took it in fairly good spirit, although refusing, as always, to apologise. Instead, she talked quite openly about her past.

‘I knew one day they would probably get out but, when it came to the crunch, I was really scared about the reaction,’ she said. ‘I’d done them at the age of sixteen for an older male audience. I didn’t know then that I’d be in Atomic Kitten. I didn’t know I would be a role model for young girls and I kept thinking that a kid would look at them and think either, “This is what I should do,” or, “She shouldn’t be doing that, she’s a slut.” But I’m not at all. I was in a few foster homes and by then I was sixteen, living on my own in a flat and somehow I had to get by. I had the bust, I wanted to be famous and that’s how I saw I could do it at that time. And I enjoyed modelling.’

Indeed, she put her background – or the Care part of it, at least – to good use, as Atomic Kitten leant their support to Nickelodeon’s The Big Help, a project that encouraged young people to help others in the community. ‘I spent time with different families in London and Warrington. Now it’s good to be able to give something back,’ she said, and the other Kittens were equally keen. ‘The good thing is everyone can help in some way, even if it’s something small like cleaning your neighbour’s car,’ said Natasha. The Kittens were clearly willing to do their bit.

But there was little time to hang about. By August that year, they had visited Japan – where they remained an absolutely huge success – five times and were now set for a sixth visit, which would be part of a six-week tour of Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand. ‘This is our sixth trip to Japan this year,’ said Natasha. ‘We’ve recorded a version of the Monkees hit ‘Daydream Believer’ for a Japanese film and we’re going to the première.’ They were also beginning to enjoy their new-found wealth. ‘Kerry and I are moving to London soon, so we’ll rent a nice flat,’ Natasha added. ‘And I’d love to buy my mum and dad a house.’

But the work was also taking its toll. Once out in Thailand, all three girls came down with various afflictions, starting with Natasha, who was rushed to the Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok after contracting bronchitis. The other two girls were forced to play a gig in the city’s CM Squared nightclub without her.

Liz was next. Just before she was due to give an interview with Bangkok’s 95.5 FMX radio station, she developed an acute earache and had to return to her hotel.

Kerry soldiered on, cheerfully telling the presenter that the band might have developed alcohol poisoning after a night in the city’s bars, but she, too, was not at her best and it soon emerged she had the ’flu. Helen Knox, who was managing the band on their tour, was good-natured about it. ‘Kerry’s to blame!’ she said. ‘She’s given us all a bug. But the Kittens will troop on. They’ve been resting and gobbling antibiotics and now we’re off to Taiwan.’

It was an exhausting schedule, however, and one that was bound to take its toll. And then Kerry had an additional burden – she was still keeping the relationship with Bryan a secret, although rumours were beginning to circulate about the real state of affairs. And, of course, she couldn’t spend that much time with her boyfriend. Westlife and Atomic Kitten were both frantically busy just about all the time.

On their return to Britain, though, Kerry was clearly back on form. She was escorted to a pop festival by one mystery admirer, only to spend the rest of the evening with one Bryan McFadden, who also happened to be there. The real nature of their relationship was becoming increasingly clear, not least because, on spotting one another, they then disappeared for a good ten minutes. The chemistry between them was obvious to onlookers, too. It is very difficult to hide really strong feelings about another person and, increasingly, Kerry and Bryan didn’t want to.

Indeed, they were finally ready to tell the truth, that they had actually been a couple for nearly a year, a secret that came out when they were spotted on holiday on the beach together in Gran Canaria. The subsequent pictures made the headlines, and the pop world’s worst-kept secret was finally out – the two 19-year-old stars were an item.

‘Bryan is one of the most important things in my life and we’re so happy together,’ said Kerry, clearly relieved that she could at last tell her news. ‘He makes me laugh and I feel on top of the world.’ Indeed, she had even had a tattoo done in honour of Bryan. ‘I had it done about three weeks ago while we were in Japan,’ she said. ‘It hurt but I did it for Bryan.’

Bryan was equally effusive about his girlfriend. ‘I love Kerry,’ he said. ‘She is the best thing in the world. We have such a great time together. We have both got really mad schedules so when we get to spend some time to ourselves, it’s very valuable.’

Time together was at a premium, though, as work continued for both; Westlife was just about to release a cover version of the Phil Collins song ‘Against All Odds’, while Atomic Kitten was bringing out ‘Follow Me’. Westlife had also been working on their second album entitled Coast to Coast – which, ironically enough, was going up against the Spice Girls – and the band felt it was better than their first, Westlife. ‘It’s a lot more tempo on this album, more of a big summer feel, but we still have the wintry ballads,’ said Bryan. ‘There’s a few up-tempos as well, like the Celine Dion-type of up-tempos. It’s not like the stomp of Backstreet Boys. We’re not worried. In our opinion, the songs on the album are better than on the first album.’ It had something else, as well – on the CD sleeve, there was a special message from Bryan to Kerry: ‘My angel, thanks for changing me, I love you, sweetheart.’

Bryan was beginning to feel the strain, though; three members of Westlife – Bryan included – had had to be flown home from their tour over the summer as they were too exhausted to carry on, and now there was a heavy promotional schedule ahead. ‘There are times I regret what we do,’ he said. ‘Sometimes, you wish you’d never done this, you just want to go home. I don’t know if it’s worth all the sacrifices, but then I think about it and realise I couldn’t get a normal job in Ireland today because of our success. It would be impossible, not even at McDonald’s. I miss just having a regular life – getting up at 8.00am and coming home again in the evening and being free to do what you want. It would be great not to have any tie-ins. Most people can take a day off – we can’t. They can get out and get drunk on a Saturday night, but we can’t. Our lives are controlled.’

Of his collapse during the summer, he said, ‘We had been going straight for three months and it just took its toll. I had to go home for a couple of days. I was just really, really tired. I couldn’t face another day. I didn’t want to go on another plane, I just wanted to go home. The irony was I had to go on a plane to go home. It can get very stressful. The getting up, getting on planes, changing countries and cities all the time. It’s exciting for the first week, but the rest is awful.’

His girlfriend was finding life equally stressful. ‘Being in the public eye has made me so paranoid, I can’t go out without a couple of drinks,’ she said. ‘Sometimes, I even go down to my mum’s local, which is full of dodgy characters, where I won’t get recognised. Then, after a couple, I feel ready to face the world again.’

With both so overstretched and exhausted, it was only a matter of time before the two reached breaking point (albeit temporarily) and so it happened that Kerry and Bryan had a huge row in public in September 2000. Atomic Kitten, Westlife and the singer Louise had all been booked to appear at a show staged by TV firm FIP’s Music 2000 gig at the Millennium Dome. Atomic Kitten had to pull out at the last minute, as Liz’s mother had to go to hospital. Kerry and Natasha went along anyway. ‘We’re gutted we had to pull out at such short notice,’ said Kerry. ‘Me and Natasha offered to sing anyway.’ But trouble brewed when Kerry discovered Bryan chatting happily to two other girls. An onlooker revealed what happened next. ‘Kerry and Bryan had been all over each other all day, kissing and cuddling,’ he said. ‘But when Westlife came off stage, Bryan made a beeline for these two other girls, totally ignoring Kerry. Understandably, she was annoyed and stormed out to her dressing room. Bryan ran after her and you could hear the pair of them screaming and swearing at each other. It wasn’t hard to recognise them – he’s got a broad Irish accent and she’s a Scouser. She was shouting, “You don’t understand,” and he was screaming, “Stop being so fucking stupid.” Next thing we knew, Kerry reappeared in a skimpy pink dress.’

Indeed, she had done so to appear in a fashion show in London’s elegant Sanderson Hotel, where the two Kittens were reunited with Westlife. Kerry and Bryan appeared to make up and continued on to the fashionable Met Bar, but neither looked ecstatic. The frenetic lifestyle was clearly taking its toll.

But, keen to put the row behind them, the two lost no time in very publicly declaring their love for one another. They had already admitted that they were an item; now they gave a full interview about their relationship. ‘I’m going out with Bryan,’ said Kerry. ‘I have been since last November. I’m really sorry if Westlife fans are upset, but I’m only human and I can’t help who I fall in love with. I’m just like them. When I go home at night, I want someone to say “Hello” and hold me when I’m sad. Bryan’s that person.’

Bryan was more effusive still. ‘It’s true,’ he said. ‘Kerry and I are going out and we have been for about a year. I fell for her the first time I met her. At first, Kerry didn’t know who Westlife were and it took a while to get her to go out with me. Our relationship is the most solid thing in my life. She’s the most important person in my life and she’s the best thing ever to happen to me. First of all, I never told anyone. The rest of the guys in the band didn’t even know. Kerry and I wanted to keep our personal lives personal. We were seen out a few times but we said we were just friends because we didn’t want people prying into our lives.’ And as if to confirm the depth of his feelings, Bryan also lavished gifts upon Kerry, one of which was a Mercedes E320.

But like any celebrity couple, they were soon the focus of intensive speculation. After the row at the Dome, another story emerged about another row, this time suggesting Bryan had been flirting with another woman at the London nightclub GAY. Bryan was livid and determined to put the story to rest. ‘I want to set the record straight,’ he said. ‘Our relationship is stronger than ever, I love Kerry with all my heart and we haven’t had any arguments. The stories claiming that our relationship has hit stormy waters were very hurtful. Only last week I bought her a Mercedes.

‘Everything between us is great. When we’re together, I’m the happiest man in the world. I can’t think why these people feel the need to make up rubbish about us. I wasn’t flirting with anyone at any clubs. I wouldn’t jeopardise my relationship with Kerry – it wouldn’t be worth it.

‘It’s important to me that people back home know the truth because every day they are being fed stories that we have split up. Kerry is very upset by them, too. After a while, you learn to tolerate lies in the press, but this is ridiculous. Far from falling out, Kerry and I are stronger as a couple than ever. She was absolutely thrilled when I bought her the car. It isn’t a flash-in-the-pan, showbiz romance.

‘We have been close together for a long time now. She has a great personality and is the kindest person in the world. We don’t go out to that many showbiz parties together because we prefer to spend quality time with each other when we get the chance.’

It was the downside of fame, as the two were now discovering, but the couple were clearly besotted with each other, while Kerry could scarcely believe the change in her circumstances. She had come a very long way from being that little girl in foster care.

Indeed, over the next few years, her life was to change again and again. At the time of writing, Kerry is still only in her mid-twenties, but has already had a number of careers, as well as fame on several different continents, and has had to cope with a number of massive upheavals in her life. Her childhood stood her in good stead; Kerry might look fragile, but she’s a fighter and has come through each battle stronger still.

For now, she was enjoying her life as a pop star, which was beginning to produce some degree of security not only for her but also for Sue; as soon as she was able, Kerry began to look after her mother’s wellbeing. And, of course, above all, she was enjoying being with Bryan. The two were generating huge amounts of goodwill, and just as Kerry’s band had frequently been compared to the Spice Girls, so she now found herself being compared to Victoria Beckham. Kerry and Bryan may not have been entirely the next Posh and Becks, but they were young, attractive and in love, a combination the public found enthralling. And both were to go to greater heights still. A very exciting time for both of them now lay ahead.