Sydney-based Irish popstar Brian McFadden has been taking off his equally famous compatriot Ronan Keating.

McFadden is playing support to Keating on the former Boyzone star’s national tour.

Video has emerged of McFadden doing a rather impressive impression of his fellow Dubliner.

Meanwhile, the former Westlifer will take part in this year’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Sydney.

The Irish Echo understands that he will be part of the entertainment line-up at the free Family Day concert at Hyde Park after the Sydney St Patrick’s Day Parade.

His new album – The Irish Connection – has just been released in Australia.

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In an interview with the Irish Echo – published in the current print edition – the recently-remarried McFadden opens up about the homesickness he and wife Vogue have for Ireland.

“We will always split our time between home and Australia,” he said.

“It’s nice to be here to work but we are homebirds and we do miss home. When you get home for Christmas it’s very hard to come back. You miss your Superquinn sausages and proper brown bread. All those little Irish pleasures that you forget how much they mean to you until you leave Ireland.”

Ronan Keating has cancelled his Newcastle show.

Ronan Keating has cancelled his gig in Newcastle next month “due to unforeseen circumstances”.

Keating was due to play the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Tuesday March 5, but promoters McManus Entertainment announced today it won’t go ahead.

Newcastle ticket holders should contact RockCity for refunds and further information.

“McManus Entertainment regrets this situation and looks forward to bringing further quality concerts and events to the Hunter region in the future,” a statement issued by the promoter said.

Keating will tour Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth from March 1. Fellow Irishman Brian McFadden is providing support on the tour.

The singer spoke exclusively to the Irish Echo earlier this month. Read the interview here.

Brian McFadden: ‘sorry’ for domestic violence tweet.

Singer Brian McFadden has apologised after a tweet about domestic violence resulted in a backlash.

“Men who hit women are pathetic. Women who make excuses and stay with the guy are just as bad,” the Irish singer tweeted to his large following on Friday night.

McFadden’s tweet was the subject to a number of critical responses, as it was retweeted over the weekend.

By this morning, it had been retweeted 235 times.

Many responses rebuked the singer for engaging in victim blaming.

Feminist commentator Eva Cox told Fairfax Media over the weekend that victims of domestic violence should be supported, not criticised.

“Domestic violence is very complex and women in those circumstances are told it’s their own fault, they get convinced they’re inadequate, ugly, and made to feel guilty,” she said.

“We need to support the women and say it’s not right and you’re not the cause of it.”

The Dubliner apologised on Saturday, tweeting: “”Sorry if my last tweet upset anyone. It’s just one of my friends is in that situation and it made me angry.”

McFadden has over 230,000 followers on Twitter.

Brian McFadden and Vogue Williams with the Melbourne Cup. The couple attended the launch of the Emirates Marquee. (Pic: Supplied)

Brian McFadden and Vogue Williams have stepped out as newlyweds in Melbourne, after returning to Australia following an intimate wedding ceremony in Italy.

The couple were among those who attended a launch event for Emirates’ Irish-themed Melbourne Cup marquee last night.

McFadden performed U2′s All I Want Is You, one of a number of Irish classics on the former Westlife singer’s upcoming new album The Irish Connection.

The singer will be special guest at the Emirates marquee on AAMI Derby Day, where he will also perform.

Collingwood FC’s Irish recruit Caolan Mooney was also there last night, with the club’s sport scientist Kevin White.

Channel 9 presenter Brodie Harper, actor Damien Brodie and actor Michala Banas and Kade Greenland were among the celebrities to enjoy the Irish fare.

Christine Ayres Irish Dancers, recently crowned world champions in Belfast, performed and offered a taste of the impending celebration of all things Irish at the themed marquee.

Guests were also given a taste of what to expect in the marquee’s Irish Country Kitchen with ‘minty blarney meatballs’, ‘handmade beef and Guinness pies’ and Irish Stew all featuring on the menu during the four-day Melbourne Cup carnival.

Barry Brown, Emirates’ Vice President Australasia, said the airline was excited to bring to life all the best known and cherished elements of Ireland in what will be an Irish cultural festival.

“Australia and Ireland have a long and rich history, which can be further linked to the strong ties the two countries have with thoroughbred horseracing, particularly with the legendary Dermot Weld, being the first international to win a Melbourne Cup with Vintage Crop,” said Mr Brown.

Last month, organisers announced that actress Mischa Barton will also attend the marquee.

Brian McFadden may be for the chop from his Channel Seven gig on Australia’s Got Talent, according to reports.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted “insiders” from the show who said the soon-to-be-wed Irish crooner will not be re-signed in the line up for next year’s judging panel, but the talent quest will survive.

With Jason Derulo, Kelly Rowland, Seal and Joel Madden spicing up the talent show genre recently and whipping up audience interest, it is likely they will look for a big international star to sit alongside shock jock Kyle Sandilands and singer Dannii Minogue.

And while the producers are reportedly committed to the tired format, it is looking at reworking the panel to give it an injection of new life.

The SMH reports: “Last Wednesday night’s AGT final was a devastating ratings disaster for Seven when it was gazumped by Ten’s MasterChef final. This followed a lacklustre season when the show never found its audience – the thunderbolt ratings triumph of The Voice, which was launched the same week, had a massive impact.”

Everyone agrees Minogue is as ”safe as houses” and the tamed Sandilands ”will be all right” but McFadden’s head is definitely on the chopping block. His temper, which has become legendary in the industry, could be to blame.

”Dannii is so well loved and professional and so easy to work with – she has that Minogue work ethic – but when that temper [of Brian's] goes off, he’s very hard to work with, even though he apologises and has this Irish Catholic guilt to him,” the insider said.

McFadden was reported to have lost his temper with a network executive at the Dancing with the Stars final in Melbourne last month. And his tongue lashings have caused him grief in Twitterverse with the singer’s jibes at exes Kerry Katona and Delta Goodrem creating more headlines than his singing career.

Fortunately the singer has his coming Italian nuptials in a castle in Florence with Vogue Williams to look forward to, as well as an album out for Christmas.

”None of them have negotiated for next season,” his surprised spokeswoman told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Brian McFadden

A war of words, and tweets, has broken out between Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem.

The pair, who split after seven years together last year, had reportedly signed a confidentiality agreement to play nice after ending their relationship.

But the Irish singer has voiced his dissatisfaction after Goodrem – who is currently riding high as a judge on the blockbuster TV hit The Voice – gave two high profile interviews in which she spoke of her unhappiness with McFadden.

“There is so much I’d like to say. I was really unhappy and I didn’t know how to get out. I learnt. I got there in the end,” Goodrem told the July issue of Vogue.

It led McFadden to weigh in on Twitter.

“Sometimes silence is golden,” he tweeted, last week.

“People love to try and deflect attention from their own downfalls onto others.

“And for the record. I’ve seen it all before!! Randomly want to thank (fiancée) Vogue Williams for making me the happiest man on the planet.”

The spat took an unusual turn, with The Daily Telegraph speculating that McFadden had consulted his lawyers over Goodrem’s candid comments.

McFadden took to Twitter again yesterday to dismiss the talk, in a response to the Herald Sun.

“I’m not considering legal action. I also wouldn’t stoop as low as her. If I did it would change everything. But I’m happy!

McFadden: Released without charge by police

Brian McFadden was released without charge by Australian Federal Police this morning, after causing a disturbance on an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Sydney.

The Australia’s Got Talent judge is said to have drank and smoked heavily on the flight and caused difficulties for Virgin Airlines flight staff, leading them to ask the AFP to meet the singer on his arrival.

Radio host Kyle Sandilands was also on board flight VA2 from Los Angeles. He attempted to defuse the situation by restraining the former Westlife member.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed that McFadden and Sandilands were met by officers when the flight arrived in Sydney at 8am this morning.

“The AFP can confirm it responded to a request from Virgin Airlines to attend a flight which was arriving at Sydney International Airport. The AFP attended the gate when the aircraft arrived and spoke to Virgin Airlines staff,” said an AFP spokesperson.

“Two men were subsequently spoken to by police. No formal complaint was raised by the airline carrier Virgin to the AFP. As a result the men were released without charge and no further action will be taken,” said the spokesperson.

McFadden later tweeted: “Wasn’t arrested! Didn’t smoke on the flight. And the virgin staff were very nice. I did have a few drinks but I was not smashed and abusive. That’s all folks.

“If reports were true then I would have been arrested, fined and worst [sic]! Banned from my favorite airline V Australia. Storm in a tea cup.”

McFadden and partner Delta Goodrem split their time between Los Angeles and Sydney.

Top of the charts and the TV ratings, McFadden is quite simply everywhere. He spoke to Isabel Hayes.

Brian McFadden’s first 30 years on the planet have been eventful. ISABEL HAYES caught up with the Sydney-based Dubliner to find out how he is juggling his roles as popstar, TV judge, famous fiancé, divorcee, absentee dad and emigrant.

It’s been a good week for Brian McFadden. He just celebrated his 30th birthday with a big party in King’s Cross and with fiancée Delta Goodrem by his side.

Australia’s Got Talent, the show he is co-hosting, got 1.5 million viewers in its first week. Best of all, his new single, Just Say So, has hit number one in the Australian charts.

“It’s been pretty good so far,” McFadden agrees, as he sits on a park bench outside Universal Studios, Sydney and smokes a couple of cigarettes.

“I never thought Just Say So was going to be number one and I definitely didn’t think it was going to sell as well as it has done. It’s been one of the biggest selling singles of the year so far, so I’m chuffed to bits.”

There’s just one cloud on the horizon threatening to ruin McFadden’s sunny week and that is his ex-wife Kerry Katona.

In the first installment of an interview with the British press, Katona has revealed how she spent the last three years doing cocaine while her and McFadden’s children, Molly, 8 and Lilly-Sue, 7, were in the house.

When asked about Katona, McFadden declines to comment, but just three days later, the Irish singer responds angrily to fresh claims by Katona that he doesn’t know his kids, in a series of Twitter comments that make international headlines.

Referring to Katona as a ‘pig-faced mole’, the former Westlife star insists he sees his children regularly.

Speaking to the Irish Echo prior to his outburst, McFadden is already visibly irritated that the British press says he doesn’t see his kids, describing how he flies home to Ireland and Britain every six weeks to catch up with his family, friends and the children.

But despite the frequent trips, McFadden says he will probably never live permanently in Ireland again, preferring to make Australia his base.

“I love living here,” he says. “It’s different here, it’s not like Britain, the press don’t slaughter you, they’re not aggressive, they’re not angry at people.

“For some reason when you’re in Ireland and England you can be walking down the street and if someone doesn’t like you, they’ll tell you, they’ll go ‘you’re a d***head’ or they’ll shout abuse at you.

“People are really nice here, they’ll walk up to you in the street and shake your hand and go ‘it’s nice to meet you’. It’s kind of weird that people are really nice. People don’t say smartarse comments. It’s cool, it’s a nice change.”

After nearly five years of living Down Under, there are still things McFadden misses about Ireland – proper sausages (“What are those sausages they give you here with all the herbs in them? I want Denny sausages”), playing golf “in the cold” and meeting his friends in the pub on a Friday night.

Otherwise he says he has converted to the Aussie lifestyle.

“I’m the same as any Irish person who comes here, I just love it,” he says.

“We don’t realise it when we’re living in Ireland. Until you come here you don’t realise what living is. We think that getting up in the morning and going to work, that that’s it, the day is over.

“Here it’s great – you can go to work and finish at 5 or 6 o’clock and there’s still so much to do. Go have a barbecue, go fishing, go in the water. People just seem to do it better over here.

“You kind of want everyone in Ireland to come over here for two weeks and go home and be like right, now we know how to do it. You can actually work and have a life at the same time. I think Irish people don’t get that.

“They just think that you have to work Monday to Friday, work your a*** off and then get p***ed Friday and Saturday night. But you can do it better than that.”

Apart from his kids, the singer doesn’t miss anything about Britain, where he lived when he was married to Katona and a member of Westlife – least of all the negative media attention.

“The English press are always pointing at me, saying you’re a disgrace, you’re a bad father,” he says. “I had two custody battles in English courts to try and get my kids. I didn’t win. What am I supposed to do?

“They say ‘we never see you with your kids’. That’s because I don’t go out and flaunt them in front of paparazzi.

“When I’m with my kids we’re at home, playing together. I’m not standing outside a shop trying to get photographed with my kids. I don’t want my kids in newspapers.

“They’re kids. They should be in school, being educated, having fun and being kids, not being pawns in a newspaper.”

When McFadden first moved to Australia in 2005, he was known only as “Delta’s new man”, as he puts it. “I didn’t mind coming over here being unknown, just being able to blend in and have a life. That was exciting when I came here first.”

Australian recognition followed after he released his album Set In Stone, before co-hosting Fox 8’s Football Superstar and appearing as a guest host on Australian Idol.

Now, as a co-host of Channel Seven’s Australia’s Got Talent with Dannii Minogue and Kyle Sandilands and a number one single in the charts, McFadden is an Australian household name.

And despite retaining his Dublin accent, McFadden says he hasn’t been asked to speak more clearly for the Australian public.

“It’s funny, when I’m having dinner with friends over here, people ask me to slow down because I speak very fast. So I don’t know how the public get it, but I haven’t had any complaints yet.”

Next stop after Australia’s Got Talent is LA, where McFadden will join Goodrem as she records a new album. And no, they haven’t set a date for the wedding.

“It’s not a big secret, there’s no big mystery, there’s no big scam, it’s literally that we just haven’t set a date yet,” he says.

“We’d get married tomorrow if we had the time but we don’t, we don’t even have a free weekend. And it’s not a f***ing gig, it’s not something you just fit in over the weekend.”

With that, McFadden finishes his cigarette and stretches. “Home I go,” he says with a yawn.