Unlocked at last!
Golf practice on a restaurant rooftop, pitching a tent in the wild, learning how to cook – let these stars inspire YOU with the passions they can’t wait to pick up again...
RONAN KEATING
Ronan, 43, lives in south-west London with his wife Storm, son Cooper, three, and newborn daughter Coco.
HE SAYS ‘I usually play four charity golf tournaments a year, including the Marie Keating Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic in Ireland, named after my mam, who died in 1998 of the most curable form of breast cancer. We’ve since raised around £11m, for education and to fund mobile units. I know she’d be proud.
‘Golf has been a 30-year passion, ever since I was 13 and my brothers brought the game back to the family after they emigrated to the States. But for a long time it wasn’t something you talked about in the music business, it wasn’t cool. It’s the challenge I love, you swing the club and you’re not sure what’s going to happen. It drives me mad.
‘I’m fortunate to have played on many of the best courses in the world, but Kingsbarns, Loch Lomond and St Andrews in Scotland are very special. I never tire of playing the Old Course – following in the footsteps of champions.
‘I like a steak with a glass of wine after a game, and Marco Pierre White’s Dublin restaurant is great for that, as is Jason Atherton’s Berners Tavern in
London. I have my steak rare with garlic and rosemary fries and broccoli.
‘This photo was taken at Coq d’Argent restaurant in London, where they let me practise my swing on the rooftop. It’s bracing up there!
‘I can’t wait to eat in a restaurant again, but the takeaway service
Deliveroo is great. I love it when I’m travelling too – hotel food can be terrible so I often order in when I’m touring.
‘Sadly I haven’t been able to play much golf, but I can’t wait to play more. Storm and I had our first round last week and she kicked my butt. I love playing with her.
‘There’s not a lot of things I can teach that girl, but teaching her golf has been one of my privileges.
‘Storm gave birth to our daughter, Coco, four days into lockdown. It was very strange, because nobody could come into the hospital. It was just Storm and me and Coco.
‘The nurses were amazing, but it was so different, so quiet. We had all of that time to ourselves.
Luckily Storm’s mum was at home minding Cooper – she got in from Australia just before
lockdown. This is the longest I’ve been at home since I was 17. I’ve watched all of the US comedy
This Is Us and dark drama Succession.
‘I miss travelling, but it meant I could focus on my family, my music and writing.
‘Storm directed the video for
my latest single, Little Thing
Called Love, in the woods behind our house.
‘I’ve been doing my Magic FM radio show too, from home.
‘I’m missing my older children, Jack who’s 21, Missy, 19, and Ali, 14.
‘They were in Ireland before all this began so they haven’t met their baby sister yet. But everybody’s in the same boat – we’ve just had to have patience.’