Simon: “Womaniser? I’m a house husband planning a wedding!”
Blue singer Simon Webbe talks about settling down as he nears 40 and his latest reunion with his bandmates
As a member of one of the A biggest boybands of the noughties, Blue’s Simon Webbe was once renowned for his playboy ways, being linked to glamour girls Jess Impiazzi and Natalie Denning and ex-emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett.
He was in a six-year relationship with actress Layla Manoochehri – who he split from after she accused him of cheating with TOWIE star Chloe Sims. And his ex Maria Kouka (the pair dated for three years before splitting in 2014) also accused him of messaging a string of other women behind her back.
But since popping the question in February to his singer girlfriend Ayshen Kemal, whom he’s been dating since 2015 – Simon tells Closer he’s changed his ways and is a devoted house husband.
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
He says: “Ayshen is a tough nut and she puts me in my place when she needs to. When we got together it was just easy for her to understand what I need to do to fulfil my career. She did say she would never go out with a musician, but since meeting me we just clicked and we have the same life goals. It was love at first sight and it feels different. She doesn’t need me, she wants me.” Opening up about their home life, he adds: “I’m the house husband! I get called up to do gigs and I get paid handsomely, which allows me to take two or three months off. I’ve got to do something, so I do the washing and the cooking. I drop Ayshen off at work and then I’ll do paperwork and I’m in the gym two or three times a day usually. Then, when she’s at the gym, I cook dinner so it’s ready for her.”
And Simon insists he’s been very involved with the wedding planning, and that his 20-year-old daughter Alanah, whom he shares with his ex Nicole Jones, is very excited for the big day.
He says: “My daughter just wants her dad to be happy and I’m definitely that now! I’ve got involved with the planning and we’ve gone to every wedding location you can think of within about an hour and a half of where we live, but I think we’ve found the place. It’s definitely happening next year. We’ll have a huge guest list because of our families – it’ll be about 500 people! It’s going to be big, but we’re trying to whittle down the numbers.”
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Revealing they pretty much agree on the fine details, he adds: “We’ve got similar tastes and if it’s what she wants then all good. I’ve got the woman of my dreams so she has to have the day of her dreams.”
Simon first rose to fame with boyband Blue in 2000. They went on a hiatus in 2004
‘Ayshen doesn’t need me, she wants me’
but reformed for The Big Reunion in 2013 and released their fifth studio album in 2015.
Now Simon says the boys are currently working on a new album and he and Duncan James are even planning a joint party for their 40th birthdays.
He says: “Me and the boys have recorded three or four tracks, but we’re looking to record about 20 for an album. I’ve been in the studio with Lee [Ryan]. It’s also mine and Duncan’s 40th birthdays next year. We’re only a week apart so we’ll have a joint party. I predict there will be some wild celebrations!”