As they holiday in the Caribbean it looks like true love between the
Irish Romeo and his `Hollyoaks' babe

It's been a case of summer lovin' for Westlife's Kian Egan and
Hollyoaks star Jodi Albert. Earlier in the summer the couple were at
pains to insist they were taking things slowly and told everyone not
to get excited. But having seen these pictures of the couple
holidaying in Barbados, its hard not to believe that things are
getting quite serious between Kian and Jodi. After all, if your Kian
Egan, you don't slip away to the Caribbean for a two week five star
holiday with just any girl.

The 23 year old Irishman kissed and cuddled his girlfriend on a
beautiful stretch of beach and later in the sea. They had spent the
morning diving in the clear waters. Kian in blue board shorts, was on
the receiving end of envious glances from other men as they caught 20
year old Jodi in her bikini.

The couple then took a break on the sun lounges.

The reason they look so comfortable together is that in truth Kian
and Jodi are old friends with shared pop careers. Although Jodi is
known for playing Debbie Dean in the hit teen soap `Hollyoaks,' she
first started out in the pop world. Jodi first crossed Kian's path
when she was part of the band `Girl Thing', who enjoyed some success
in Asia, but failed to make a dent in the British Charts.

"This is the whole thing about Jodi." Kian explains. "I've known her
for five years. I've known her since the very start of Westlife, when
we were nothing. I know she's not interested in me just because I'm
in Westlife. And when something like that happens its really nice."

It's for this reason Kian feels he can trust Jodi and so is willing
to open himself up to her. Kian knows only too well the trap doors of
kiss n tell stories.

Kian has developed a name for himself over the years as a guy who
likes a beer with his pals. He's also been known to enjoy the company
of a lady. Atomic Kitten's Liz Mclarnon was one such companion and
glamour girl Jodie Marsh was another who stepped out with him.

But Jodie told OK! that her relationship with Kian wasn't going to
lead to anything long-lasting. "Me and Kian were never serious." She
says. "I didn't fall for him, there were no emotions involved. It was
purely fun. Put it this way it was never loving!"

While Kian and Jodi have chemistry that's plain to see, both are keen
to take things slowly. Kian's cautious approach is the result of past
heartbreak. He says his fame has caused the disintegration of several
past relationships.

"The last girlfriends that I had, I went out with for 2 years at a
time. My last girlfriend couldn't handle what I did and my busy life,
while the other break ups were more me." He adds. "I've only been out
with Jodi 3 or 4 times officially on a date. It's much too early to
say we're in love. But who knows where it will go?

Earlier this summer Kian explained: "We love each other's company and
we have a lot of fun together. But I don't know if anything will
happen with it or not we are taking things extremely slow and I
cant stress that enough. There was a report that we were trying to
have a big long relationship in secret, that we were going out with
each other for months and that we were in love. This isn't the way
things are."

The news broke that Kian and Jodi were officially an item in June.
Jodi was asked about the nature of her relationship with the Westlife
hunk. She smiled shyly: "It's early days yet, but yes we are dating."

Jodi is an emerging star on TV and is set for greater things. With
the departure of Elize Du Toit [Izzy], the path has been cleared for
Jodi to claim the mantle of the show's top sex bomb. She studied at
the famous Sylvia Young Theatre School where her best pal was her
classmate, Billie Piper.

Jodi recalled: "I was a bad influence on her and we always got in
trouble for talking in class!"

Originally from London's east end, Jodi now lives in the cool Albert
Dock area of Liverpool and enjoys the city's nightlife.

"It's a very lively place but very small compared to London, so you
can get to everywhere easily." She says, "We all go out quite a lot
and there's always a birthday or something to celebrate. And I still
travel down to London regularly to see my family and friends."

Perhaps soon she'll be travelling to Sligo to see Kian's parents.
It's a serious step and one that doesn't fit in to their `taking
things slowly' strategy. But pretty soon Kian and Jodi are going to
have to admit that they are on the path to something a lot more
serious.