A walk on the bogside

It is probably no exaggeration to describe Nadine Coyle as Ireland’s first major pop icon of the 21st century.

In fact, Nadine is indisputably the most successful Irish-born female pop star of the decade, as part of Girls Aloud – now officially the biggest ahem, “British” girl group ever, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Since their inception in 2002 on ITV’s talent show Popstars: The Rivals, Girls Aloud have released a staggering 17 consecutive Top 10 singles, with four number one hits in the UK charts.
The five remarkably feisty band members have achieved what most other manufactured groups have failed miserably to even hint at: critical respectability. Girls Aloud have consistently garnered favourable reviews from the media, with the UK’s Observer newspaper describing ‘Biology’ as the single of the decade, no less. Their latest single, ‘Call The Shots’, culled from their fourth studio album entitled Tangled Up, occupied the number one spot at Christmas. It was the perfect way to wrap up what had been a tremendous twelve months for Girls Aloud, allowing them to end the year as they had started it – as the undisputed Queens of Pop.
Hot Press hooked up with Nadine when she was in London to pre-record the Christmas Day Top Of The Pops. Rushing through the corridors of the BBC studio, as she made her way towards the dressing room, the Derry-born star revealed that a festive number one would be the proverbial icing on the (Christmas) cake. Nadine recalls that she always looked forward to watching the Christmas Day Top Of The Pops, growing up with dreams of stardom, as a teenager in Derry.
Christmas in Derry wasn’t on the agenda this year. When we spoke, Nadine was leaning towards the sunnier climes of California. “I don’t know where I’ll be spending Christmas!” she sighed. “I’ll probably spend it in LA. We have a show in Russia on the 23rd – so, by the time we get back I think it’ll just be handier to go to LA…”
After a few minutes navigating the labyrinthine corridors of the BBC, Nadine finally reaches the dressing room, momentarily pausing for a breather before entering. As she takes in her surroundings, the 22-year-old looks around approvingly and then enthuses about the catering. “Oh, the nachos! The BBC can be just the best place for food,” she coos.
No sooner is Nadine settling down on a comfy chair than the make-up people come storming in. But Nadine politely shoos them away. “Are you coming in to do my make up? I’m just doing an interview! Can I finish this and then we can start? Thank you,” she says. “They’re going to be buzzing in and out of here trying to do my make-up, so we better get started…”
Cue to click on tape recorder.

JASON O’TOOLE: Growing up, what type of music did you listen to?
NADINE COYLE: I listened to a lot of old stuff growing up. I’d done Irish dancing, so I liked that, you know, diddley-eye type of music. I liked it all really. I’m quite young, so I can’t talk about bands from 20 years ago, so I would have your obvious: Westlife, Boyzone, The Corrs. I liked all of that – and loved the fact that they were Irish. I share managers now with Sinead O’Connor – an American manager – so it’s great to be in the company of legends. Oh, I love everything that U2 do. I think Bono is really great. It is just brilliant that he is Irish.
Speaking of Bono, what do you make of him taking a knighthood?
I didn’t even know about that, but if that’s the case I think it is amazing. It is great. I think it is absolutely fantastic. He is so inspirational.
Would you accept one yourself?
I wouldn’t get a knighthood (laughs). Bono has done great work throughout the world. He’s very multi-cultural – he helps all sorts of people and brings awareness. I think the fact that he is Irish and that he has taken a knighthood is just something good – it’s showing that we are progressing with the times.
Does it annoy you being labelled as a British pop star?
It does. When people say Girls Aloud are a British band and I’m there, I will explain that we are four British and one Irish. On our Greatest Hits album cover they had a Union Jack flag on there – on the first draft. I was like, “What is this? Where’s the Irish flag? If you are going to put the Union Jack on you have to put an Ireland flag on.” So they did.
Do you think your Irishness brings anything to Girls Aloud?
I think my accent – not so much traditional Irish music because Girls Aloud won’t go down that route (laughs). But I think my accent sounds slightly differently from British pop music and British pop singers. My Irish roots are very, very important to me.
You must be very proud of the fact that there is, finally, peace in Northern Ireland?
I’m very proud of the fact. And the fact that Ireland, as its own country, has come up through a lot of hardship and therefore it builds a certain type of something that is ingrained in you, you know? And you’ll always have that. It’s like a strength that people don’t always have. A strength and an ability to be grounded. And that comes from being Irish and the culture that we have.
What are your thoughts on the Northern Ireland Assembly? Do you think it is strange seeing Martin McGuinness sitting beside the Rev. Ian Paisley at the same cabinet table?
I think it is amazing. We are all living in the same place. We are all living in the same country. Everybody wants essentially the same things: we all want to have a peaceful life. No matter where you come from, background, race, religion, people just want to be happy and live life and just have the best opportunities possible. And, I think, to see them all sitting together is a real sign of the times. People are like, “Ok, we are all wanting the same things, so what’s the point in there being hostility?” That’s good.
Growing up in Derry, did you know Martin McGuinness?
It’s such a small town. I didn’t know him personally – but I dated his son! Not seriously – you know, like when you are really young, it was like maybe when I was 13.
Now that you have travelled the world, could you go back and live in Derry?
Not really. I like travelling. I don’t think there is anywhere in the world that I think, “I want to live here and not go anywhere else.” I am never as happy – and I was the same when I was six years old and we went on our first holiday – as when I have the suitcase packed and somewhere to go. I’m going to be one of those people that will never settle anywhere in my whole life. I’ll keep travelling. I have a couple of houses in Derry now, one in London, one in LA – so it’s good that I can be in either one of those places and have a home. Depending on what type of mood I’m in – if I want the sunshine I can go to LA; if I want to be cosy and feel like I’m back at home I can be in Derry; if I’m working I can be in London.
Did you ever imagine growing up that you would achieve so much?
You see, it is funny when it is yourself – when it is you that you are dealing with. People ask me this all the time. But I’m only 22 – I don’t really think I’ve achieved that much.
But you are in the Guinness Book of Records, being listed in the 2007 edition as “The Most Successful Reality TV Group” and in the 2008 edition as having the “Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group”.
But so are loads of people. People are in the Guinness Book of Records for eating the most amount of boiled eggs!
That’s true! But Girls Aloud are a very successful pop band. In fact, you have had a staggering 17 consecutive Top 10 hit singles.
Aye, but we’ve been doing it a while. Girls Aloud have been around for five years – and we have worked non-stop during those five years. We’ve had to work our way up from the bottom because we came from a reality TV show – and people were saying that we were going to be here today and gone tomorrow type-of-thing. There was always something against us.
The media interest in you has intensified during the last two years. How do you handle the paparazzi?
It is difficult. The paparazzi are outside my house – and have been outside now for about a year – every single day. There is like three or four paparazzi and they all sit there. When you get up in the morning you can even hear them all talking outside. You have to look decent before you go outside – put a wee bit of make-up and lip-gloss on – and that becomes draining. In America – the American paparazzi are so good at what they do, because you never know that they are there! They are discreet about it, which, on one hand, catches you out on doing things that you wouldn’t do if you could see the camera; but on the other hand, it doesn’t affect your life to the same degree because you don’t know that they are there.
How do you deal with all the rubbish that is written about you in the tabloids?
I don’t really care what they write, to be honest. Tabloids are not journalism – what they do is gossip. It’s like anything else, it is like Chinese whispers never affected me. Maybe it never bothered me because I started off with such controversy.
I can remember that controversial issue – you told a white lie about your age on the talent show for RTÉ. So you must have had a real determination, perhaps even a desperation, to become a successful singer?
When I take myself back to that time in my life: I had just turned 16-years-old and it was not a big deal. It was an audition that lasted for a few weeks. And it wasn’t a desperation to be in this band – it was just a laugh. I was there with me sister and my family and we were having a right laugh. And then all of a sudden – and that’s what happens – things were really blown way out of proportion and it got out of control.
Are you capable of laughing at what you read about yourself in the papers?
That’s me, all the time. I’m like, “Wow!” But I choose a lot of the time not to read it. I look at the headlines – what is this, what is that? – and if it’s alright then I’m like ‘Alright, Ok’ but if it is awful I’m like ‘Oh, no way!’ You can’t believe the stories in the papers. You can’t be hung up about it. The media is a means to an end. You use the media the way they use you. We want people to know when we’ve got something on sale. We want people to talk about us then, so whatever! I don’t care…
You are now living in LA. Do you have more anonymity over there?
A lot more. You have British paparazzi that are there, but it is a lot easier avoided because my house is really far out of the way and it’s beside the beach. So yeah, it is a lot more relaxing there.
You just made a guest appearance in a new St Trinian’s movie, playing the school band. What was that like?
That was fun. We were in the middle of touring and we went in for one day and we did one scene. We were supposed to do more but we just didn’t have the time. And when we watched the film last night we were like, “Oh! Why? Why didn’t we just go and do it?”
Sounds like it has given you the acting bug. Would you like to make some movies in Hollywood?
It is hard being an actress. It is not as instantaneous as being a singer. We can do an album and then go up on stage and see the crowd and you are like, “Woooow” – and you know what we are doing is worthwhile. When you do a film, you do your scenes over and over and over again. It can take months and then it takes a year before it is actually out. I’m really in the mood for just doing touring and everything being at a very quick pace and fast-moving. If I had more time I’d just spend it just doing nothing (laughs).
I heard you are going to open a few Irish bars in the States.
Yes, that is true. At the minute, we have bought one in Orlando, right beside Disneyland. We are in the process of buying somewhere else. We are going to open a chain of bars. This is just an idea that has snowballed. None of us (her family) are really experienced in the bar trade. My daddy had to go back and learn how to work in a bar and do bar managerial things; my sister is doing accounts. It has just given everybody a new lease of life and a completely different direction.
That’s being sensible – most pop stars normally piss their money up against the wall, don’t they?
Yeah. I can just piss it up against the wall in my own bar! (laughs)
But seriously, the music industry can be very fickle. Girls Aloud could be forgotten about in a few years. You sound as if you’re investing now, for your future?
Exactly. It is completely an investment for the future. It is putting the money that I have earned to good use and being sensible with it. The thing about life is that you don’t want your source of income to be completely reliant on one thing. It is good if you can spread out your areas of income at a few different levels and in a few different things.
Do you have any other business ventures?
I like buying houses and decorating them and selling them off. And with the profit I make I can buy bars. I like having loads of things going on and not having to concentrate or worry about one certain thing. My daddy keeps having these crazy ideas. There’s this Mexican restaurant for sale beside our place in Orange County and he said, “Oh, let’s go and buy this. And let’s buy this plot of land and then buy this and do this with it.” And I’m like, “Wow-wow-wow. Wow!” He has the best intentions in the world – but it is really just an exciting time. It just proves to me that the world really is your oyster – and you can do whatever you want with it.
I know you are sick of people asking you about a possible solo career, but it must be pleasing to hear somebody like Louis Walsh say that you’ll have a huge solo career?
That is nice. Louis is a doll. We have a really good relationship and I’ve known him since I was really young. It is flattering, it is. It can be pressurising sometimes because you have fans and they are like (puts on depressing tone), “Oh, Nadine is going to leave Girls Aloud – and how could she do this to us?” And I’m like, “I’m not. I’m just doing exactly the same as everybody else.”
Would you like to write more songs in the future?
I have written a few songs. I have written one song for a Girls Aloud album, but my style of writing is not Girls Aloud type of music. I love James Morrison. I like great melodies with guitar, because when I was younger I always sang with bands that had loads of musicians and a brass section, the percussion section. The whole vibe was just, you know, all the instruments live on stage and everybody just being together in a group creating music. I love all of that.
Girls Aloud are signed up for a new TV show on ITV2.
Passions – the other four are doing that, but I’m not.
Is there a reason for that?
Yeah, yeah, just personal reasons really.
Girls Aloud is about the music, but there is obviously the sex appeal factor too. Is that something you are very conscious of?
We are young girls. We are all in our twenties, so I think – regardless of the fact that we are in the band or not – image is very important at this age.
So is it flattering or strange to have young boys – and men – screaming at you?
Oh, it’s funny. You don’t pay too much heed to it because they don’t really know you. If they were to sit down and spend half an hour with you they’d be like: “Oh, God! Now, there’s sexually no… what going on? What was I screaming about? They are just normal girls.”
You spend a lot of time on the road, so it must be difficult sustaining a relationship?
It can be. It is whatever you are used to really. With my first boyfriend (professional footballer Neil McCafferty), I lived in Ireland and he lived in London. That was long-distance for a while. Then Jesse (Metcalfe) lived in LA and I lived in London.
Is that relationship finished now?
No, we are together. (There is new speculation that Nadine got engaged during Christmas to Metcalfe shortly after this interview was conducted. – JOT)
What are your thoughts on love and marriage?
I get asked this all the time and when people ask me, I’m, like, let me just lay it out for you: “I am 22. I don’t know.” If I was 32, then I’d be able to talk about love and life and whatever. I don’t know – I’m like any other 22-year-old girl that is still trying to find her fate and just trying to work hard and balance life – and to have a career and a relationship.
Did you read Cheryl Cole’s recent comment about drug addiction? She said: “I don’t have any sympathy for addicts. That might sound harsh, but I don’t give a fuck how they feel. If they’re in pain because of drugs, it’s self-inflicted.” Do you agree with these sentiments?
I don’t share that view. My view is completely different. I do have sympathy. I feel really sorry for people in those positions. I would need a bit more experience to be able to offer help or advice, so I don’t. I wish I knew more how to help.
You never really hear about pop bands being involved in drugs, but I’m sure you must have come across drugs yourself?
I’m sure it is the same everywhere – even in pubs and clubs throughout the whole of Ireland. If you are in that crowd – the cocaine crowd or whatever crowd – then I won’t be there. If you are looking for drugs, then it will be right there, but if you surround yourself with people that don’t do it – that won’t be asking for it and also respect your decision not to do it – then they’ll not bring it to you. Drugs is something that I’ve never had to face head on because I’ve also been like, “Oh, my God! Are you crazy? That is just not my thing.” Two glasses of wine is enough for me. I don’t need anything else.
I am asking you because a famous Irish model, Katy French, died recently from an apparent overdose.
Jeepers. That is unbelievable. I am very anti-drugs. You know, alcohol is a drug – people can get addicted to that. I think that when you are getting into the realms of things that are illegal and people are snorting cocaine off the backs of dirty toilets, I just see that as very seedy and it is not something I would ever want to bring into my life. As I said, I’m too vain. I couldn’t picture myself doing it. I would be disgusted with myself!
What’s your reaction when you see the likes of Pete Doherty or Amy Winehouse, falling down from the effects of drugs?
It makes you feel sorry for anybody. If you see somebody in the street, you know, falling down because they are high on crack or whatever, I would feel exactly the same way. It is a shame that people feel the need – they must feel really low in their own lives to feel the need to do that. It is a disease. And to get yourself that low in the first place, to be part of it, then I feel really, really sorry for them.