Marcus Michael Patrick Feehily was born in Sligo on 28th May, 1980 (or 1981, depending on which sources you believe). He is the eldest of three brothers, and he lives outside Sligo town with his brothers and parents. Mark's mum is called Marie, and she’s lovely. Mark's dad, Oliver, was responsible for putting in the windows in the B&B we stayed in, which apart from making me far too excited to be healthy, shows that he is good at his job. Maybe it was this amazing way with glass which prompted Mark to buy his dad a Land Rover... even though Mark seems to spend a lot of his time driving it himself. Do I detect a method in his madness? It sounds like something I would do! But a hint Mark... Buy yourself your own car. It'll save all the hassle when it comes to who gets to use the Jeep on a Saturday.

Mark went to St Patrick's when he was young, and if you visit their website, you'll see that they continue to support him to this day. Of course, it may have something to do with the fact that he's the only pupil there remotely famous, but still, it's quite sweet. There's even a couple of pics, including one which shows Mark sitting on his own at the front, wearing glasses! Bless him...

Of course, Summerhill College was the next stop, and it was there Mark met those bad influences, Shane and Kian, while they were all doing plays. Mark claims his favourite subjects were French and P.E. which doesn't explain the terror in his eyes every time it's his turn on Eat My Goal on SMTV. Do all boys just say P.E. to stop themselves looking 'gay'? I do wonder. Anyway, Mark fell in love with music and musicals when he went to see various productions in Sligo, including Oliver, and started taking part himself. He says he was obsessed with the film 'Grease' and watched it hundreds of times every day. Hmm... Someone didn't have much of a life... Mark also says that when he went to watch a production of 'Grease' at the Hawks Well Theatre, when he was "about ten or eleven", Shane was on stage performing, and it was partly watching Shane which affected Mark and made him want to do the same thing. It's quite sweet really, when you consider the way things have turned out now, and they're both in the same band. Mark then got his first proper taste of life on the stage in third year at school when the production of 'Grease' was staged, and Mark had a part, along with Shane and Kian. He didn't have a huge lead role, but he did get to sing, and he realised that despite his shy personality and unease sometimes in the big school, this was somewhere he felt really comfortable. He says, "All of a sudden I was doing what I wanted to do - it was just a brilliant feeling. For the first two years of school, I had so much wanted to be involved in the main line-up and now I was there and it felt incredible. That show changed everything for me and was a big turning point in my life. I had always had the feeling deep inside that I wanted to be a singer, but this really reinforced it in my mind and I loved it." We have a lot to be grateful to 'Grease' for.

Mark is a fantastic singer, something that his Westlife colleagues admit freely, Nicky even saying he'd "kill for a voice like his!" and no wonder. Mark's soulful vocals ae very distinctive and bring an extra edge to the band's songs. As well as singing, he likes to have time to himself, understandable considering he has to be around people every moment of every day. That kind of thing drives me mad after a while, and Mark deals with it by getting away, wandering off. He's been known to get himself lost before flights and stress out Anto and the boys, but he never seems to learn! Mark is passionate about music, though and when the group was in LA in summer 2002, he had a brilliant time going off to small gigs and concerts, enjoying the kind of anonymity he can't get anywhere else, where Westlife is recognised. His passion shines through in his singing and performing, and as well as that, he is a genuinely nice person. I've been lucky enough to meet him twice, and both times he was so sweet to me. It would have been highly disappointing if he hadn't been, but he was, and I'll never forget the feeling I had the first time, when he put his arm around me for the photo and all I could think was 'oh my God, Mark has his arm around ME!' He was so down-to-earth and lovely, making sure everyone got what they wanted, and it's the quality which helps to make him so likeable.

Mark is also really funny. His sense of humour is more sarcastic and random than say, Bryan's, and he's hilarious because you never know what he's going to come out with (unfortunately, it hasn't been Nicky yet). It could be a normal interview, then all of a sudden Mark drops in something completely silly and everyone will laugh. I think he's a pretty clever guy, and he likes to sit back and let others do the talking, but at times he just shows what he must really be like in private, away from Westlife. He was obviously very shy at the start of Westlife, as he had never been outside of Ireland, and in the first year or more, you can see he looks comfortable enough on stage, but off stage he's wary, unsure of everything. It's great to see how much he's changed from that shy 18-year-old (or 17, again depending on whether you think Mark's a dirty wee liar) into the confident, stylish guy we see today. It's nice to realise, as a fan, that through buying the CDs and making his dreams come true, you've helped Mark to believe more in himself and gain self-assurance. And of course, he looks a lot sexier, which doesn't hurt.

I think that Mark's the one we should watch when Westlife finish. From the signs so far, he could well be the one to do something unexpected and mad, a bit off-the-wall and crazy, and I hope whatever he decides to do, he'll do it successfully.

Mark Feehily... he's alright, I suppose.