Wednesday December 29 2010
THERE was plenty of celebration in the Filan household yesterday as Westlife singer Shane and his wife Gillian celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary.
The Diary can reveal how the couple, who wed at a star-studded ceremony in Ballintubber Abbey, Co Mayo, planned an
intimate
bash with close friends last night to mark the milestone.
The high-profile pair have been together for over ten years, with Shane explaining that the couple now put more focus on meaningful gifts when it comes to celebrations.
"At the
start we used to spend money, but you soon get bored of that and it's far more meaningful to put thought and effort into something," Shane explained.
"I'd rather have a gift that cost nothing and had loads of thought put into it."
The singer also revealed how this Christmas was particularly significant for the family as it was their first year with new baby, Shane Peter.
The tot, who has two older siblings, Nicole and Patrick, will turn one on January 22.
"It was the first Christmas with Shane Junior so it was a big Santa Claus Christmas this year," he said.
"We had a traditional day and all the trimmings. The whole family came over from all corners of Sligo, so there was a great atmosphere in the Filan household."
The busy popstar has plenty of big plans for 2011, including a €5m development in his home town of Sligo.
Shane owns a property development company called Shafin, alongside his brother Finbarr, and the pair are hoping to buck the recession by building a
neighbourhood centre.
The building will be anchored by a large supermarket and will also contain five retail units and two takeaway outlets.
WESTLIFE'S Shane Filan is on the verge of signing a six-figure
deal with a new record company.
The Diary can reveal how the Sligo crooner was popping the champagne at Cheltenham Festival after talks with a string of big labels.
In what will be his first solo
deal without his chart-topping bandmates, he said he'll be signing on the dotted line in the next few weeks.
And he admitted that the nerves are jangling at the thought of going it alone.
"It's exciting but, of course, I'll be nervous. It's only natural when you're coming out of a band after 14 years, you don't know where your life's going to take you," he said.
"But all I want to do is sing, sing great songs and see where it goes. It's down to the songs."
Shane and manager Louis Walsh have been having top-level negotiations with a number of labels -- but Shane didn't want to rush into anything.
"I'm just working out now exactly what's happening, there's different things happening and we'll
work it out in the next month or two. Obviously I want to make the right decision," he said.
Fun
Shane and his wife Gillian left their three children Nicole, Patrick and Shane at home for a day of fun at the festival.
The celebrity couple were guests of multi-millionaire businessman JP McManus. Shane revealed how it was his first time at the festival.
But it wasn't the easiest trip up from their Surrey home, where they're now living.
They spent more than five hours caught in the traffic chaos as they slowly made their way to the Cotswolds course.
