Post by shayne on Feb 13, 2008 22:12:16 GMT 8
I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO IMAGINE MARRYING ANYONE ELSE
KIAN EGAN AND JODI ALBERT
WE JOIN THE WESTLIFE STAR AND HIS FIANCEE IN PARIS TO TALK WEDDINGS, BABIES AND FALLING ASLEEP AT THE WRONG TIME!
There is no place on earth that embodies the essence of romance more than Paris. So when Westlife star Kian Egan and actress Jodi Albert decided to share the tale of their four-and-a-half year relationship and the details of their Christmas engagement, it seemed only fitting to set it against the backdrop of the city famous for love. From the penthouse suite at the stunning Hotel Balzac where OK! catches up with Kian 27,and Jodi 24,the Eiffel Tower twinkles in the distance and Jodi giggles. "Ask us anything! I will tell you the girlie perspective then Kian can add the boy's side."
And there is so much to talk about .After all, not only is this the first time Kian and Jodi have agreed to be interviewed together, it is also their first ever shoot as a couple. But, as it is clear to see, public displays of affection come pretty easy to a couple who have been together for so long and who, despite their fame, are clearly just a normal guy and girl in love.
Jodi confides: 'I do think that on some level I loved him the moment I met him'. While Kian admits: 'I think that deep down I always knew that we were going to be together.'
But like any good love story there was plenty of will they won't they? and a light sprinkling of misunderstanding. With plans under way, there is one subject Jodi does not mind avoiding. 'We have had five years of people asking us when we are getting engaged. Now that we are I know the next thing everyone will be asking us is when we're having children!' With the subject of little Kian’s and Jodi’s aside, we find out all about the roller coaster ride of them becoming a couple, Kian's festive proposal and their global search for the perfect wedding venue...
Set the scene for us - what happened on Christmas morning?
Jodi: It was already a really special Christmas because it was actually mine and Kian's first Christmas together. We were in the new house and my parents were staying with us. And when it comes to Christmas, Kian and me are like big kids and so we were already really over-excited.
Had you exchanged gifts?
Jodi: We did go a bit overboard actually but Kian bought me the most beautiful Balenciaga handbag. And I really was not expecting it because he'd been saying how he wasn't going to buy me another designer handbag because he thought they were too much money…
Kian: And they just sit there in the wardrobe.
Jodi: I thought ‘Fair enough, he's got a point’. So when I saw that, I thought that was my big present. But there was something left to come… About an hour later, after my sister and her children arrived, Kian told me that I had one more present but it hadn't been delivered yet.
Kian, you can't tease a girl like that!
She thought it was a horse!
Jodi: I just couldn't imagine what needed to be delivered. And for some reason I thought it might be a horse.
Kian: Like I'd put a horse in the garden!
Even when he said you had one more gift you didn't suspect it was 'the gift'?
Jodi: One thing I did notice was that he was tidying up, which Kian rarely does.
Kian: I really wanted the room to be tidy when I did it and all the mess from where we'd been opening presents was everywhere. I had the Hoover out and everything.
Jodi: I was like: "Babe, it is Christmas, leave it". But he carried on and I just thought to myself, fine he's tidying, I am not going to stop him.
And then Kian just dropped to one knee?
Jodi: I was chatting with my sister and I was about to go into the bedroom to show her my handbag when Kian grabbed my hand, led me to the Christmas tree and told me to cover my eyes. All I remember thinking was “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!" And then I opened my eyes and he was in front of me on one knee holding the ring and he had tears in his eyes and just said “Will you marry me?”
And did you say yes straightaway, Jodi?
I burst into tears! I was so over emotional. I didn't even look at the ring, I just dropped to my knees and hugged him. We were just there on the floor in a bit of an emotional mess. And then he told me to look at the ring and it was just perfect.
Did you choose it yourself Kian?
We went to Tiffany about three years ago to look at rings! And I remembered that Jodi had liked one in particular.
Jodi: I've never liked big rings that look like costume jewellery and all I really wanted was a classic ring that was timeless. And Tiffany had this perfect princess cut round diamond and I'd never seen anything more beautiful…
And you bought the exact one she loved?
It stuck in my mind. I did shop around and look at lots of different jewellers but I came back to that one. But when she'd first seen it I'd been really dismissive and I said I'd never buy a ring from a jeweller and that I'd go to South Africa to buy a diamond and then get it mounted myself.
Jodi: Yeah, and I was like "Great, I can't wait to marry you".
Did you have even the slightest clue he was going to propose, Jodi?
No, because just before Christmas he did an interview where he said he'd never propose to me at Christmas because it was too predictable and corny so I was thinking right, so that is your game is it?
Kian, it must have been tricky to surprise Jodi because people have been asking you for years when you're going to do it and you've always said that you would when the time was right...
That's the funny thing that I really don't understand. People have been asking for so long. I mean if it was just in the last year I could understand but it's literally been from when we got together. People don't get engaged as soon as they get together just because they're in the public eye.
Jodi: Some do babe…
Kian: Yeah, but in my opinion they are doing it for the wrong reasons. But I think you need to be with someone for a long time so you can really get to know them before you can make the decision to make such a huge commitment…
You've been together for nearly five years, is it going to be a long engagement as well?
Kian: We're engaged and we got engaged to get married. Not to sit around and watch the years go by.
Jodi: I'm really excited about the fact that I'm going to be married by the time I'm 25!
Are your wedding plans underway?
Kian: We have a very strong idea of when we're going to get married but for us it's more so do with the location. We see something a wee bit different .Something that's a lot like our personalities.
Jodi: As lovely as they are and as beautiful as some that we've been to have been, we don't want a castle or a big church wedding.
Kian: It's not that they aren't amazing but that just isn't who we are as a couple.
If you wanted to, though, you could have the biggest wedding in showbiz history sure.
Jodi: As much as people think that Westlife have earned a lot of money, we are not flash. We don't feel the need to have the biggest ring, largest houses, most expensive cars.
Can you give us any hints on when and where it will be?
Kian: I've got April off so we're going to go on a little trip around the world and that's how we'll find our spot. I am all for backpacking but missy here sees backpacking as five-star hotels!
Jodi: Not five-star but somewhere with a bed and a shower! He wants to go to the jungle, and I am not going to sit around in a jungle.
Kian: We will travel around and find the ideal location. Until we find that I don't think we’ll set anything in stone.
Have you tried on any dresses yet Jodi?
I've tried on lots of dresses, I know what I want now. I know exactly the style and who I want to design it and I think it is going to suit me.
Even though Kian has only just proposed, you have said for a long time that you'd get married…
From the very beginning, Kian gave me the impression there would always be a wedding. And because of the way he treats me and the way he looks at me I have never been able to imagine marrying anyone else. I always knew we'd get married. I just didn't know when.
This is your first interview as a couple. take us right back to the beginning - when was the first time you met?
Kian: I remember the first time we met I was standing with Simon Cowell and Jodi walked passed and I was like “Wow, who's that?” and Simon looked at me and said “No, no, no kiddo. Not for you!” And I was like “What do you mean?” And he explained she was only 15 and said "She's my little special one, you're not allowed near her kiddo!"
Jodi: The only thing of them I'd seen before was a picture of the five of them back when the band was called Westside, but even then my eye was drawn to Kian.
So it was sort of love at first sight…
Kian: We became friends for a long time. We ended up hanging out a lot together after we met because Brian McFadden used to go out with one of the girls in Jodi's band (Girl Thing).
Jodi: From the start we always said we we’re just friends but there was always more to it.
Kian: But you can't ask out a 15 year-old! The age gap then wasn't like it is now. Then we just drifted apart for a few years.
You didn't keep in touch?
Jodi: I used to get drunken phone calls from Kian at 5am.I might not have spoken to him for a year and then my phone would ring at some weird hour and I'd croak “Hi.” and he'd say "Jodi, it's Kian." and I'd be wide awake…
Kian: Look, if anyone calls you up drunk at 5am, you know there's something there.
During those years when you weren't in touch very much, did you ever read about each other going out with people and feel really disappointed?
Jodi: I used to read about girlfriends that he might be with or people that he had been rumoured to have been with. I didn’t' want to assume that is was true but every time I read one of the stories it was like a dagger in the stomach…
The 5am phone calls and the fact there was a spark must have been slightly confusing…
Jodi: I'm a typical girl. I'll sit and go over things again and again in my head. Kian's the complete opposite, which is why we work together as a couple. But for me I'd keep wondering what it all meant. In my head I was thinking that he always made a fuss of me, then he disappears, then I don't hear from him, then I see him and he's all over me. After a while I was like, oh sod him!
And your excuse, Kian?
I just didn't want to get with her straight away and then ruin it.
Jodi: My mum always said that he was biding his time, that I was too young and he was waiting until the time was right. Kian plans everything I know now that in his head he would have wanted to get together but he knew that we were too young and that the time wasn't right. When we got together I could see that his way was so the best way to do it.
Kian: You have that on tape, right? Kian's way is the best way. She said it!
When did you see each other again?
Kian: I didn't see Jodi for a really long time and then I saw her in the Soccer Six event. That day she did give me the cold shoulder. I think she might have been seeing someone else or was just trying to play it cool.
Jodi: No babe, I was just genuinely seeing someone else.
Kian: That was when I thought I might have blown it.
But obviously you hadn't…
Kian: About three months after Soccer Six I was playing in Manchester and because she was living in Liverpool at the time I called her and invited her to the gig. That night she walked into the dressing room and I looked at her and was like, “Right. I'm done.” That was it. We've been together ever since.
Was it the same for you, Jodi?
Kian: She thought the same thing way before then!
Jodi: Actually, I didn't think anything of it because I'd walked into lots of Kian's dressing rooms before and he'd always given me a great reaction. I was actually quite laid back that night. It really all happened over the three days he was in Manchester with the boys.
Kian: By the end of the Manchester gigs I was saying that I was serious and that I wasn't going to leave and not call. I think by the third day I said I wanted her to be my girlfriend…
Jodi: The boys had a day off and Kian decided to stay with me and all we did was talk. It was as though we were getting to know each other all over again. I was a bit scared.
Scared?
Kian: I can understand that because there were probably quite a few situations where it could have happened before but it didn't happen and I can imagine it being disappointing. There were definitely opportunities that came and went.
Jodi: I just didn't want to be messed around. I've got a lot of pride and I'm a girls' girl. I'm not the sort of person who thinks women should be chasing men because I think that subconsciously men enjoy the chase. I didn't want to give in straight away.
Did you lay down some ground rules?
Jodi: Definitely. We were honest with each other from the start and we both knew exactly where we stood. And because of that our whole relationship is based on honesty.
When did you first tell each other that you loved each other?
Kian: It was the first holiday we ever went on. The first time we said 'I love you' we were in the sea.
Jodi: It was the first time he said “I love you” and I said it back to him. It was funny because we were papped and when we got home there was a picture on the front of OK! literally of the second we'd said it with the headline “Westlife's Kian and Hollyoaks babe Jodi”
Kian: I think you'll find it said "Westlife hunk” - might not be true, but hey!
It sounds very romantic…
Kian: I actually considered taking her back there to propose but I thought she might suspect it because of that. And also I knew it would be more special if we were around our friends and family. For a guy you get engaged and it's like happy days but for a girl it's all about “Look at my ring, look at my ring,” and seeing everyone you know.
What's the secret to the strength of your relationship?
Kian: I stand by the fact that you should never go to bed on an argument.
Jodi: Because I would. But now, since being with Kian, I wouldn't.
Kian: Which is why she absolutely lost the plot recently. We were having an argument but it had gone quiet and it was really late so I started to fall asleep and she got properly annoyed with me.
Jodi: I was like, “You cheeky b*****d! Falling asleep, are you?” I'm naturally quite bad at the sorry thing but he's taught me how to say it now.
Has the fact you've known each other for nearly ten years played a part in how strong you are now?
Jodi: We met when things were just beginning to happen for us. Nothing affected what happened that day we met. There was no money, success, nothing. It was pure right from the word go. OK!
Credit/Source: OK! Magazine / Gloria for typing up the interview for WFVip
KIAN EGAN AND JODI ALBERT
WE JOIN THE WESTLIFE STAR AND HIS FIANCEE IN PARIS TO TALK WEDDINGS, BABIES AND FALLING ASLEEP AT THE WRONG TIME!
There is no place on earth that embodies the essence of romance more than Paris. So when Westlife star Kian Egan and actress Jodi Albert decided to share the tale of their four-and-a-half year relationship and the details of their Christmas engagement, it seemed only fitting to set it against the backdrop of the city famous for love. From the penthouse suite at the stunning Hotel Balzac where OK! catches up with Kian 27,and Jodi 24,the Eiffel Tower twinkles in the distance and Jodi giggles. "Ask us anything! I will tell you the girlie perspective then Kian can add the boy's side."
And there is so much to talk about .After all, not only is this the first time Kian and Jodi have agreed to be interviewed together, it is also their first ever shoot as a couple. But, as it is clear to see, public displays of affection come pretty easy to a couple who have been together for so long and who, despite their fame, are clearly just a normal guy and girl in love.
Jodi confides: 'I do think that on some level I loved him the moment I met him'. While Kian admits: 'I think that deep down I always knew that we were going to be together.'
But like any good love story there was plenty of will they won't they? and a light sprinkling of misunderstanding. With plans under way, there is one subject Jodi does not mind avoiding. 'We have had five years of people asking us when we are getting engaged. Now that we are I know the next thing everyone will be asking us is when we're having children!' With the subject of little Kian’s and Jodi’s aside, we find out all about the roller coaster ride of them becoming a couple, Kian's festive proposal and their global search for the perfect wedding venue...
Set the scene for us - what happened on Christmas morning?
Jodi: It was already a really special Christmas because it was actually mine and Kian's first Christmas together. We were in the new house and my parents were staying with us. And when it comes to Christmas, Kian and me are like big kids and so we were already really over-excited.
Had you exchanged gifts?
Jodi: We did go a bit overboard actually but Kian bought me the most beautiful Balenciaga handbag. And I really was not expecting it because he'd been saying how he wasn't going to buy me another designer handbag because he thought they were too much money…
Kian: And they just sit there in the wardrobe.
Jodi: I thought ‘Fair enough, he's got a point’. So when I saw that, I thought that was my big present. But there was something left to come… About an hour later, after my sister and her children arrived, Kian told me that I had one more present but it hadn't been delivered yet.
Kian, you can't tease a girl like that!
She thought it was a horse!
Jodi: I just couldn't imagine what needed to be delivered. And for some reason I thought it might be a horse.
Kian: Like I'd put a horse in the garden!
Even when he said you had one more gift you didn't suspect it was 'the gift'?
Jodi: One thing I did notice was that he was tidying up, which Kian rarely does.
Kian: I really wanted the room to be tidy when I did it and all the mess from where we'd been opening presents was everywhere. I had the Hoover out and everything.
Jodi: I was like: "Babe, it is Christmas, leave it". But he carried on and I just thought to myself, fine he's tidying, I am not going to stop him.
And then Kian just dropped to one knee?
Jodi: I was chatting with my sister and I was about to go into the bedroom to show her my handbag when Kian grabbed my hand, led me to the Christmas tree and told me to cover my eyes. All I remember thinking was “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!" And then I opened my eyes and he was in front of me on one knee holding the ring and he had tears in his eyes and just said “Will you marry me?”
And did you say yes straightaway, Jodi?
I burst into tears! I was so over emotional. I didn't even look at the ring, I just dropped to my knees and hugged him. We were just there on the floor in a bit of an emotional mess. And then he told me to look at the ring and it was just perfect.
Did you choose it yourself Kian?
We went to Tiffany about three years ago to look at rings! And I remembered that Jodi had liked one in particular.
Jodi: I've never liked big rings that look like costume jewellery and all I really wanted was a classic ring that was timeless. And Tiffany had this perfect princess cut round diamond and I'd never seen anything more beautiful…
And you bought the exact one she loved?
It stuck in my mind. I did shop around and look at lots of different jewellers but I came back to that one. But when she'd first seen it I'd been really dismissive and I said I'd never buy a ring from a jeweller and that I'd go to South Africa to buy a diamond and then get it mounted myself.
Jodi: Yeah, and I was like "Great, I can't wait to marry you".
Did you have even the slightest clue he was going to propose, Jodi?
No, because just before Christmas he did an interview where he said he'd never propose to me at Christmas because it was too predictable and corny so I was thinking right, so that is your game is it?
Kian, it must have been tricky to surprise Jodi because people have been asking you for years when you're going to do it and you've always said that you would when the time was right...
That's the funny thing that I really don't understand. People have been asking for so long. I mean if it was just in the last year I could understand but it's literally been from when we got together. People don't get engaged as soon as they get together just because they're in the public eye.
Jodi: Some do babe…
Kian: Yeah, but in my opinion they are doing it for the wrong reasons. But I think you need to be with someone for a long time so you can really get to know them before you can make the decision to make such a huge commitment…
You've been together for nearly five years, is it going to be a long engagement as well?
Kian: We're engaged and we got engaged to get married. Not to sit around and watch the years go by.
Jodi: I'm really excited about the fact that I'm going to be married by the time I'm 25!
Are your wedding plans underway?
Kian: We have a very strong idea of when we're going to get married but for us it's more so do with the location. We see something a wee bit different .Something that's a lot like our personalities.
Jodi: As lovely as they are and as beautiful as some that we've been to have been, we don't want a castle or a big church wedding.
Kian: It's not that they aren't amazing but that just isn't who we are as a couple.
If you wanted to, though, you could have the biggest wedding in showbiz history sure.
Jodi: As much as people think that Westlife have earned a lot of money, we are not flash. We don't feel the need to have the biggest ring, largest houses, most expensive cars.
Can you give us any hints on when and where it will be?
Kian: I've got April off so we're going to go on a little trip around the world and that's how we'll find our spot. I am all for backpacking but missy here sees backpacking as five-star hotels!
Jodi: Not five-star but somewhere with a bed and a shower! He wants to go to the jungle, and I am not going to sit around in a jungle.
Kian: We will travel around and find the ideal location. Until we find that I don't think we’ll set anything in stone.
Have you tried on any dresses yet Jodi?
I've tried on lots of dresses, I know what I want now. I know exactly the style and who I want to design it and I think it is going to suit me.
Even though Kian has only just proposed, you have said for a long time that you'd get married…
From the very beginning, Kian gave me the impression there would always be a wedding. And because of the way he treats me and the way he looks at me I have never been able to imagine marrying anyone else. I always knew we'd get married. I just didn't know when.
This is your first interview as a couple. take us right back to the beginning - when was the first time you met?
Kian: I remember the first time we met I was standing with Simon Cowell and Jodi walked passed and I was like “Wow, who's that?” and Simon looked at me and said “No, no, no kiddo. Not for you!” And I was like “What do you mean?” And he explained she was only 15 and said "She's my little special one, you're not allowed near her kiddo!"
Jodi: The only thing of them I'd seen before was a picture of the five of them back when the band was called Westside, but even then my eye was drawn to Kian.
So it was sort of love at first sight…
Kian: We became friends for a long time. We ended up hanging out a lot together after we met because Brian McFadden used to go out with one of the girls in Jodi's band (Girl Thing).
Jodi: From the start we always said we we’re just friends but there was always more to it.
Kian: But you can't ask out a 15 year-old! The age gap then wasn't like it is now. Then we just drifted apart for a few years.
You didn't keep in touch?
Jodi: I used to get drunken phone calls from Kian at 5am.I might not have spoken to him for a year and then my phone would ring at some weird hour and I'd croak “Hi.” and he'd say "Jodi, it's Kian." and I'd be wide awake…
Kian: Look, if anyone calls you up drunk at 5am, you know there's something there.
During those years when you weren't in touch very much, did you ever read about each other going out with people and feel really disappointed?
Jodi: I used to read about girlfriends that he might be with or people that he had been rumoured to have been with. I didn’t' want to assume that is was true but every time I read one of the stories it was like a dagger in the stomach…
The 5am phone calls and the fact there was a spark must have been slightly confusing…
Jodi: I'm a typical girl. I'll sit and go over things again and again in my head. Kian's the complete opposite, which is why we work together as a couple. But for me I'd keep wondering what it all meant. In my head I was thinking that he always made a fuss of me, then he disappears, then I don't hear from him, then I see him and he's all over me. After a while I was like, oh sod him!
And your excuse, Kian?
I just didn't want to get with her straight away and then ruin it.
Jodi: My mum always said that he was biding his time, that I was too young and he was waiting until the time was right. Kian plans everything I know now that in his head he would have wanted to get together but he knew that we were too young and that the time wasn't right. When we got together I could see that his way was so the best way to do it.
Kian: You have that on tape, right? Kian's way is the best way. She said it!
When did you see each other again?
Kian: I didn't see Jodi for a really long time and then I saw her in the Soccer Six event. That day she did give me the cold shoulder. I think she might have been seeing someone else or was just trying to play it cool.
Jodi: No babe, I was just genuinely seeing someone else.
Kian: That was when I thought I might have blown it.
But obviously you hadn't…
Kian: About three months after Soccer Six I was playing in Manchester and because she was living in Liverpool at the time I called her and invited her to the gig. That night she walked into the dressing room and I looked at her and was like, “Right. I'm done.” That was it. We've been together ever since.
Was it the same for you, Jodi?
Kian: She thought the same thing way before then!
Jodi: Actually, I didn't think anything of it because I'd walked into lots of Kian's dressing rooms before and he'd always given me a great reaction. I was actually quite laid back that night. It really all happened over the three days he was in Manchester with the boys.
Kian: By the end of the Manchester gigs I was saying that I was serious and that I wasn't going to leave and not call. I think by the third day I said I wanted her to be my girlfriend…
Jodi: The boys had a day off and Kian decided to stay with me and all we did was talk. It was as though we were getting to know each other all over again. I was a bit scared.
Scared?
Kian: I can understand that because there were probably quite a few situations where it could have happened before but it didn't happen and I can imagine it being disappointing. There were definitely opportunities that came and went.
Jodi: I just didn't want to be messed around. I've got a lot of pride and I'm a girls' girl. I'm not the sort of person who thinks women should be chasing men because I think that subconsciously men enjoy the chase. I didn't want to give in straight away.
Did you lay down some ground rules?
Jodi: Definitely. We were honest with each other from the start and we both knew exactly where we stood. And because of that our whole relationship is based on honesty.
When did you first tell each other that you loved each other?
Kian: It was the first holiday we ever went on. The first time we said 'I love you' we were in the sea.
Jodi: It was the first time he said “I love you” and I said it back to him. It was funny because we were papped and when we got home there was a picture on the front of OK! literally of the second we'd said it with the headline “Westlife's Kian and Hollyoaks babe Jodi”
Kian: I think you'll find it said "Westlife hunk” - might not be true, but hey!
It sounds very romantic…
Kian: I actually considered taking her back there to propose but I thought she might suspect it because of that. And also I knew it would be more special if we were around our friends and family. For a guy you get engaged and it's like happy days but for a girl it's all about “Look at my ring, look at my ring,” and seeing everyone you know.
What's the secret to the strength of your relationship?
Kian: I stand by the fact that you should never go to bed on an argument.
Jodi: Because I would. But now, since being with Kian, I wouldn't.
Kian: Which is why she absolutely lost the plot recently. We were having an argument but it had gone quiet and it was really late so I started to fall asleep and she got properly annoyed with me.
Jodi: I was like, “You cheeky b*****d! Falling asleep, are you?” I'm naturally quite bad at the sorry thing but he's taught me how to say it now.
Has the fact you've known each other for nearly ten years played a part in how strong you are now?
Jodi: We met when things were just beginning to happen for us. Nothing affected what happened that day we met. There was no money, success, nothing. It was pure right from the word go. OK!
Credit/Source: OK! Magazine / Gloria for typing up the interview for WFVip