Summer Son
by Annie Brown for The Daily Record - 4 April 2002

Well, Sharleen's got to have a Blackeyed Boy hasn't she?

TEXAS star Sharleen Spiteri is pregnant.

The 34-year-old singer and boyfriend Ashley Heath will have a "Summer Son" or daughter in September.

"We're absolutely delighted," Sharleen said last night.

"I've been for tests and they have been fine. It's great news."

Sharleen doesn't mind if the baby is a "Blackeyed Boy" or girl.

She said: "I'm staying away from the scanners.

"We would rather not know whether it's going to be a girl or a boy. Either way is fine by us.

"I'm going to be a strict mum and my baby won't be spoiled.

"My parents were real hippies and let me do my thing. But they were also strict, which was good for me."

Sharleen has made no secret of her longing to start a family with magazine executive Ashley.

And rumours that she was ready to be a mum grew stronger when she announced last August that she was taking _ a two-year break from touring.

Sharleen always said it would be impossible to try for a baby and play on the road at the same time. She joked: "It would have to be the immaculate conception."

She found out she was pregnant in January after only a couple of months off the road.

Despite rumours to the contrary, Sharleen did not need fertility treatment.

She and Ashley, 32, have been together for seven years.

Sharleen said: "When I met him, I just knew he was the one.

"It was as though we had known each other forever. We were very relaxed together.

"I looked at Ashley and knew I wanted to be with him, and that I wanted him to be the father of my kids."

The couple's child will want for nothing. Texas have sold 12million copies of recent albums White On Blonde, Hush, and The Greatest Hits.

Former hairdresser Sharleen is now the highest-paid company director in Scotland, drawing a salary of more than £1.6million from her music company Summer Meadow.

She and Ashley have homes in Paris, Glasgow and London.

Sharleen had been preparing for an acting debut in thriller 3 Blind Mice but has now quit to concentrate on motherhood.

She will keep working on a new Texas album, due out at the end of the year, and plans to tour in 2003. A friend said: "She doesn't see why the baby can't travel with her."


Back to the Articles page

Back to the Articles & Concert Reviews main page

If you don't see a toolbar on the left then please click here