Westlife’s Markus Feehily reveals he and fiancé Cailean O’Neill are set to become dads
"This is the proudest moment of our lives."
By Will Stroude
Markus Feehily has revealed that he and fiancé Cailean O’Neill are set to become dads.
The Westlife singer, 38, celebrated his birthday on Instagram on Tuesday (28 May) by announcing that the recently-engaged couple are set to welcome a baby into their lives later this year.
Sharing a picture of the pair with an ultrasound scan visibile on a phone, Feehily wrote: “Thanks for all the Birthday wishes everyone!! It really makes this my most special birthday EVER to let everyone know that later this year we will become Dads for the first time.
“This is the proudest moment of our lives and we are beyond excited to say it out loud!”
Markus and Cailean announced their engagement in February this year after five years of dating, and are expected to tie the knot later this year.
Despite Markus’s global success as part of Westlife, who reformed last years and are set to release 11th studio album Spectrum this November, Cailean has kept mainly out of the public eye during the course of the pair’s relationship.
Discussing his partner’s decision to forego the spotlight, Feehily told MailOnline in 2017: “[Cailean] is not quiet believe me, he is far from quiet, but he has no experience whatsoever in the music industry and he is quite shy about coming to the red carpet.
“A lot of people ask me his name and it is not that I don’t say his name, it is his thing to say and if he wants to be in a magazine then that’s his choice.”
Having joined Westlife at the age of 18 in 1998, Feehily came out publicly in 2005, revealing he’d first recognised his sexuality in his early teens.
Speaking to Attitude in 2015, the ‘Mandy’ singer recalled: “I didn’t tell the lads for a long time. I think I told them a year before I went public.
“Up until that point I think they kind of knew there was something going on but it was never mentioned and I wouldn’t express it.
“Brian got me drunk – not that he had to try hard – and he dragged it out of me kicking and screaming. Then I told Shane and Nicky – once again alcohol was involved. Same with Kian. My family was fine.
“Obviously it’s not the same for everyone but you do build things up in your mind, you think the worst things, that you’ll be disowned. But I was lucky it was all fine.”
“It’s funny you expect the news to change everything – but after a couple of weeks later it becomes a bit mundane and everyone goes back to a normal life.”