His Westlife days may be over, but Brian McFadden is far from finished - he's got a new look, a new name and a new single, and life is great

WHEN BRIAN McFadden announced that he was quitting Westlife earlier this year, millions of girls' hearts cracked in two. Hell, even we shed a tear or three.

Since we last saw him with Westlife, Brian has undergone a series of changes. Not only has he swapped the 'y' in his name for an 'i', he's also shed loads of weight, grown his hair and started sporting a rather cute beard.

So imagine how giddy we were when the hunky popster greeted us in his private suite at the Conrad Hotel in London's swanky Chelsea Harbour, his favourite stopver in the capital and where his two kids were famously conceived.

Once we oohed and aahed over his fab new single Real To Me, we settled down to talk about the tough stuff - drugs, groupies, lap dancers, and, er, his Queen Of The Jungle wife Kerry's boobs.

OK, Bri, let's get the boring stuff out of the way first. Why did you really leave Westlife? Were you guys fighting over hair gel?
No, not at all. I loved being in Westlife, I just couldn't afford to dedicate my time to it any more. I had two children and they were starting school, so I had to get my priorities right. Now I'm dedicating half my time to music and I'm having a lot more fun.

So it was nothing to do with any disagreements with Simon Cowell?
I like the guy as a person, but musically he's definitely not for me. He knows how to pick out a brilliant pop tune, but he could never find a real artist who writes his own music because he just doesn't get it. He would never have found Dido. I mean, he doesn't even get Will Young.

Were the others shocked about you leaving?
They were gutted. They're happy now though - they have a new lease of life.

When you were in Westlife, you boys looked like all-singing, stool-sitting Cliff Richards. Were you really as clean-cut as you looked?
Anyone who knows us knows that we're not squeaky clean, but we weren't rebels either. We drank, we smoked … we were just very normal Irish lads.

So you've never grappled with a groupie?
Honestly? No, never. I used to hear stories about other bands who'd get security guards to bring groupies back to hotels for a shag, but we never did that. I mean in Sweden, the groupies are seriously hot, but we still didn't do anything. We looked at them, thinking, 'They're fans.' You just wouldn't feel right.

When Robbie quit Take That, he suffered drink and drugs problems. Did you ever dabble in illegal substances?
No. When it came to drugs, we were pretty squeaky clean.

You weren't even tempted? Not even a bit?
I know so many bands who all do coke or whatever, but it's just not something we've ever done. I don't know if it's because of where we come from in Ireland, but where I grew up, me and my friends weren't going into the field drinking or sniffing Tipp-Ex.

That's good to know. When you met and married Kerry, did things change for you?
Before Kerry, it was all about being in Westlife and being successful, but then when we had the kids, I realised that there were so many more important things in life than money and success.

You were only 19 when you met Kerry, who, at the time, was Kerry Katona, one third of Atomic Kitten. What was it about her that made you think she was the one?
Of all the girls I'd ever met, she was the one who sparked something off in me. It was an instant attraction, and we got engaged in three weeks.

Wow, you're a fast mover! People talk about you as a package, but are you worried you'll just end up being known as "Brian and Kerry"?
That just happens. If you're both famous, then that's the way you're going to be known.

Would you ever do a Peter Andre and Jordan, and film a smoochy video together where you're both rolling around in sand?
Never! We certainly wouldn't be hugging and kissing on the sand. That said, we have been thinking about Kerry doing a cameo in one of my videos, but it would be a lot funnier - she'd be in a pinny and rubber gloves, with rollers in her hair.

Earlier this year, you paid off lap dancer Amy Barker in an out-of-court settlement. Why did you do that?
We wanted to put an end to it. It had been going on for two years, and Kerry and I had got over it.

After the incident happened, were you honest with Kerry straight away?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was all fine. We just got on with our lives, but , unfortunately, the story kept getting mentioned in the papers. So the whole world was thinking it was still going on, but for Kerry and I it was all in the past. You know, we're always 100 per cent honest with each other. You have to be. You need to be able to trust one another.

On a less serious note, you recently said Kerry was the Queen Of Breasts. Were her atomic whoppers the first thing that tickled your fancy?
You know what? I didn't know she had big breasts until about two weeks into our relationship.

Two weeks? Where were you looking, man?
Well, it was winter when we met, so she was wearing a big coat, so I never noticed her boobs. Then one day she was wearing this T-shirt and I was like: 'Fukcing hell, look at them!'

Before you met Kerry, were you a boob guy?
I was never a boob man. I was always an ass man. But now I have the Queen Of Breasts, I'm happy. However, I do love girls' faces. If I was single, I couldn't be with a girl with an unbelievable body if she had an ugly face. I mean, it's the face you have to look at all the time. You can't have a conversation with someone's arse!

Aside from quitting Westlife, everyone's talking about your dramatic change of image…
I never actually said to myself: 'I need a new image'. The weight loss happened during Westlife as I'd started Atkins before last Christmas. People only noticed the change beucase there was a three-month gap when no one saw me. I was surprised by the reaction actually. It was weird.

Didn't you think to yourself: 'Blimey, what must I have looked like before?'
It did make me wonder how bad I looked for the past five years. I remember a magazine used a picture of me hurling [the Irish sport with sticks] when I was at my heaviest. I looked really overweight, but at the time I didn't feel all that big.

Is it easy to stick to the Atkins diet? Aren't you tempted to dive into a sack of spuds?
You adapt. I look at a potato now and it just doesn't appeal to me. I haven't eaten chocolate for years, either.

So what do you eat, then?
Eggs, steak, chicken.

Haven't you got bad breath and constipation?
No, not at all. I'm free-s**tting and have nice fresh breath!

Talking of which, how did you hook up with poo-prodder Dr Gillian McKeith, who claims she helped transform you?
I met her with Max Clifford, but she didn't help me lose weight - she just told me I needed to shed a few pounds.

Did she say this after a poke around in your, erm, stools?
No, not at all. She didn't do any tests on me. She just told me to try and lose a bit of weight because she thought I was starting to look a bit podgy.

Are you allowed to drink alcohol with your diet?
Sure. I can drink vodka and Diet Coke, or even vodka and sugar-free Red Bull.

So when was the last time you got rat-arsed?
At Jodi Albert's 21st birthday party. I hadn't seen the Westlife fellas for a while [Jodi is dating Westlife singer Kian Egan], so we had a few drinks. I was actually drinking Diet Coke to start with, and then one of the guys said: 'Let's have one celebratory drink.' The next thing I know, someone's cracked open the Cristal and it's all over. I was doing cd:UK the next morning. It was a bit ropey. I was s**t!

So what's next, Bri?
Well, the album's out in November, I'm managing a band called Franklin and Kerry has just started to work on a film. So it's pretty busy in the world household.

Blimey, your life would make a good reality-TV show!
Funny you should say that, because we were actually offered two massive deals from two channels to do a fly-on-the-wall-style show, but we said no. you see, we basically just want to keep what private life we have private.

OK, Bri. I think we get the message!

Typed Up By: Lynchi.de.vu