Nadine Coyle’s date of birth incident is one that lives on, going viral online every once in a while.
But this week, Irish Eurovision star and former judge on Irish talent show, Popstars, said if it were up to her, the Derry girl would have gotten away with telling her “little white lie.”
The Belfast-born Eurovision star won the song contest in 1992 with her song ‘Why Me?’ and then went on to a successful career in television and theatre.
Alongside Louis Walsh and Bill Hughes, Linda was on the judging panel for Popstars in 2001 when Nadine’s passport incident happened.
The iconic moment saw the soon-to-be Girls Aloud member lie about her date of birth in order to compete in the talent show. In a hilarious clip, it was revealed that Nadine had been lying about her age and was just 16, two years younger than the minimum age requirement of 18 for the Irish show.
Nadine Coyle was disqualified from the competition and sent back home to Derry, but Louis Walsh later encouraged her to enter the UK version of the show, Popstars: The Rivals, the following year.
Due to her success on the UK show, Nadine joined girl group Girls Aloud, formed through the talent show by an audience vote.
Speaking to Dublin’s 98FM Big Breakfast with Rebecca and Brendan on Monday morning, Linda Martin said she wouldn’t have penalised Nadine for the lie about her age.
She said: “I love Nadine, I think she’s an amazing vocalist and a gorgeous girl. Looking back – I’d say both of you agree with me – if you get a chance, you take it. Alright, you’re telling little white lies, I mean she didn’t murder anybody.
“If it had been up to me, I’d have let it go because I just thought that she was such a talent that it was worth letting her go but unfortunately the producers had to do something about it.
“But when you look at it, look how well she did it was actually a great bit of luck for her because she went on into Girls Aloud and look at the situation she ended up in.
“So, I really didn’t want to lose her, but it wasn’t my decision I’ll be honest with you.”
