Grannies twerking by pool & OAPs chugging pitchers of cocktails… it was a horrible holiday, says Westlife’s Mark Feehily
WESTLIFE'S Mark Feehily has had his fair share of incredible holidays, soaking up the sun with a number of famous faces over the years.
The singer, 41, can thank himself for the successful getaways he and his partner Cailean O'Neill have had, because as soon as Cailean was in charge of the bookings, it all went downhill.
Mark told how he's the "travel agent" of the relationship, making sure to check hotel reviews before stepping foot on the plane.
The Sligo native relinquished control of organising the holiday a few years ago when Cailean wanted to try his hand at arranging the perfect getaway.
Mark explained: "I go above board, I look at every hotel in the country and then I look at the reviews and I go back and double check.
"I'm extra, extra vigilant because I've had experiences where I haven't been that vigilant and I've ended up in a place that was horrible.
"Four or five years ago Cailean was like, 'Just let me book it'. And I said, 'Cool, yeah whatever, what could possibly go wrong?"
Mark laughed and continued: "Cailean booked an all-inclusive package where you get the flight, the hotel and the transfers in the one package.
"It was in Cancun in Mexico, I was really looking forward to it, I'd never really been to that side of the world before."
Mark then told Alan Carr's Life's A Beach podcast that the pool was overrun by elderly people "twerking" and chugging pitchers of cocktails, "as if on Spring Break".
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The Westlife star said one man in particular looked like a member of ZZ Top and was "sitting at the bar with pints of cocktails in his hand, downing them".
He continued: "There were grannies twerking next to the pool and all sorts of stuff floating in the pool.
"We went for lunch and had chicken and then went back for dinner and there was the same chicken that wasn't used for lunch chopped up.
"After three days our bodies starting to feel like something was wrong, it wasn't that we felt weak or sick it was my body telling me to get out of that hotel!
"You know how they say your stomach is a brain - it was having a meltdown.
"We ended up complaining to the point where they gave us our money back for the rest of the trip, so we only spent three or four days there and we flew to Miami instead.
"We checked into a hotel that I knew was great and I said, 'Right that's it, you're very good at many other things but I'm booking the holidays'."
'AMAZING IRISH ACCENT'
Mark then recalled some of the more enjoyable holidays the pair have had, including spending New Year's in Barbados with Tulisa.
He explained: "We had a night cap on the balcony and we were sitting there and all of a sudden I heard this London accent that I recognised.
"I started whispering to Cailean and 20 minutes later I said, 'I think that might be Tulisa'.
"We were whispering and she didn't even know we were there so we had to say something. One of us popped our head around the corner and all of a sudden we were climbing across our balcony to Tulisa's balcony and we spent about three hours drinking and laughing together.
"She does an amazing Irish accent by the way, one of those accents that she could be Irish."
PARTYING WITH ROYALTY
Another holiday success saw Mark and Cailean spend the night singing in a beautiful Greek piano bar with Queen Latifah.
Mark explained: "In Mykonos there's a very famous little piano bar, it's beautiful and it's run by this little old gay couple who always bring over proper showbizzy American singers.
"I know the owners and they always give us our special seat in the corner, so I was sitting there and the owner came over and asked me to share the seat because Queen Latifah was there.
"She came in with about 12 people and sat down and they were just like a bunch of schoolmates on holidays.
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"We ended up chatting away, we got up and sang together and we spent the night with Queen Latifah and her friends.
"She was the sensible one of her group, she was still letting her hair down but... she was really lovely. She felt like the real deal, she was really welcoming."
