The best way to your Valentine's heart is a box of luxury chocolates, says Nicky Byrne of boy band Westlife: 'I love it when the two of us have something that we can share' ... And of course roses are red, but posies can be pink and provocative. Liz McLarnon of girl band Atomic Kitten picks the kind of Valentine's Day bouquet that could really make her feel whole again
Interview by Huma Qureshi Sunday February 11, 2007 The Observer
If you don't get any Valentine cards this year, just pretend you did. Nicky Byrne of boy band Westlife says: 'At school everyone would act really cool about how many cards they got, and you knew everyone exaggerated. I'd always say I got seven.'
For the past 14 years, Nicky has had one special Valentine, his wife Georgina, daughter of Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. They have been together since school and married in 2003. Georgina is now expecting twins. 'We were very young when we started going out,' he says. 'We've had more than 10 Valentine's Days together, so every year it's getting harder to buy something different.' At least Mrs Byrne will know what to get Nicky - he loved Thornton's 'I Love You' Cups, which he tried for the test. 'I like something we can share, and these are great!' Article continues
If you're single, Nicky says go for it: 'If you fancy someone, use Valentine's as an excuse to ask them out. Why not?'
Westlife's next single, 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', will be out on 12 March. The Love tour starts in the UK on the same day.
1. I Love You Cups, Thorntons, www.thorntons.co.uk, £2.50
Revert back to school days when love letters were 'in', and spell it out with the 'I Love You Cups', a series of five milk chocolate cups [the word love is represented by a heart] filled with a delicious chocobeurre centre, that spell out the immortal words.
Nicky says My favourite: I love these, they are so cute. If you find it a bit awkward to give romantic gifts, this is perfect because they're so small and say 'I love you' in a really sweet way. They taste really nice - not too heavy, not too sickly. The nicest part is that they say they're for 'childhood sweethearts' and that's perfect for my wife and me, so it won us over straight away. As they're so cheap, it would be lovely to give them as a side gift along with something else.
2. Heart gift box, Marks and Spencer, £9.99
An assortment of milk, white and dark chocolates including nut, truffle and caramel centres.
Nicky says Lovely - the truffles have champagne in them too, and you can't go wrong with these. You could just keep popping them in your mouth all day; they are delicious. It's not too big a box either, so you can eat them without it being too much. Good price, and great presentation.
3. Continental Valentine's Day Satin Heart, Thorntons, £25
The perfect way to say 'I Love You' and to keep the love alive. Our striking red Continental Satin Heart contains 56 of our most popular chocolate collection.
Nicky says This was my second favourite. Really lovely box. Everything's beautifully wrapped inside, it's luscious. There's a great selection of chocolates. If you bought these for a girl, it would look like you'd spent money.
4. Velvet Heart Belgian chocolate selection, Marks and Spencer, £30
A selection of milk, dark and white Belgian chocolates. Includes treats such as Buchette, an indulgent mix of smooth white chocolate and crunchy croquant praline.
Nicky says I can see how a girl might love these - the box and the ribbon are pretty. It's absolutely huge too, so it's something you could get for your girlfriend and you'd know she'd love it. Great if you like luxurious chocolates.
5. Hand-decorated truffles, Marks and Spencer, £5.99
This sumptuous and sexy truffle selection combines smooth milk chocolate made with cocoa beans from Ecuador, dark chocolate from Santo Domingo beans and white Belgian chocolate.
Nicky says I really like the white chocolate ones in this box. It's quite an unusual box - black - so could be quite discreet to send. I loved the presentation.
No comments:
Post a Comment