Shane Filan with wife Gillian and daughter Nicole Shane Filan and his wife Gillian have paid tribute to their daughter Nicole on her 19th birthday. The couple, who tied the knot in Mayo's historical Ashford Castle back in 2003, also share sons Patrick Michael (15) and Shane Peter (14), who is named after his dad. But it was their eldest Nicole who was the centre of attention this week as she celebrated her 19th birthday on Tuesday.
Today's News in 90 seconds - 24th July 2024 Westlife star Shane took to Instagram to wish his daughter a happy birthday with a sweet family photo of the pair and Gillian from a trip to the Algarve in Portugal earlier this year. The Filans dined at Asian fusion restaurant Bamboo, with Nicole looking grown up in a stunning peach floral skirt and bandeau top. Captioning the post, her proud dad wrote: “Happy 19th Birthday Nicole,” adding heart, birthday cake, and star emojis.
Shane’s friends and followers flocked to the comments section to send their well wishes to the birthday girl, including his Westlife bandmate Kian Egan, who left some heart emojis as he wrote: “Happy Birthday Nicole”. Kian’s wife Jodi Albert added: “Love this picture! How is she 19!” And a fan chimed in: “19 - time has flown by. Gorgeous family, so pleased to see you all so happy, working hard and having lots of fun”.
Gillian also posted a photo of Nicole for her birthday on Instagram, sharing a snap of the teenager dolled up in a yellow floral gown. “How are you 19 already Nicole? Happy birthday,” she wrote. Jodi Albert also commented on Gillian’s post, writing: “Happy birthday coley! You lil beauty!” And Nicky Byrne’s wife Georgina Ahern penned: “Happy Birthday Beautiful Nicole”.
It comes after Shane organised a surprise for Nicole as she graduated from secondary school at the beginning of summer. The Sligo man had been busy touring Asia with his bandmates Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, and Mark Feehily – leaving the rest of the Filan clan at home in Ireland. Shane took to Instagram at the time to share his daughter’s exciting milestone with fans, explaining that he missed out on Nicole’s big day but made sure to sing her favourite Westlife track Safe on stage in Nanjing.
A post shared by Shane Filan (@shanefilanofficial) He also joked that he got a “good friend” to act as a replacement for him – a cardboard cut-out from his early Westlife days. Nicole posed with her fake father for the photo in a stunning yellow dress as banners, streamers, and balloons with the words ‘congratulations graduate’ decorated their hallway. Captioning the post, Shane wrote: “So my daughter Nicole graduated from school yesterday and unfortunately I was not there.
.. I was on tour with boys in China.
.. but I got a good friend of mine to stand in for me.
.. “Happy Graduation Nicole.
️.. Love you.
We sang your favourite @westlife song tonight in Nanjing for you”. Nicole also brought the mascot into school with her as her classmates carried out sixth year pranks before saying goodbye to their school days. Photos from her social media accounts show that she and her friends decorated a classroom with Westlife merchandise, including posters of the band, a foam finger with ‘I heart Westlfe’ printed on it, a tote bag with her dad’s face on it, photos of her parents’ wedding day, and a giant banner reading ‘Welcome to the home of Westlife’.
“Safe to say Ms Filan did NOT escape muck up day ‘24,” she joked. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.
