The new righteous brothers - Nick, Joe and the newly engaged Kevin Jonas (r). pix Viacom International Inc
Is teen heartthrob Kevin Jonas getting ready to ditch the purity ring he’s been brandishing for the past few years after popping the question to his girlfriend, Danielle Deleasa, on the weekend?
At 22, Kevin is the oldest of the Jonas Brothers, all of whom wear the rings as a public statement about their decision to remain virgins until they marry.
I met the three Jonas boys in New York last year and went to the world premiere of their Disney Channel movie Camp Rock, a music filled extravaganza that was viewed by millions and millions (and then some) which confirmed their status as the world’s hottest teen stars.
Curiously, though, when asked about the purity rings, youngest brother Nick, clammed up. Defiantly.
“We are here to talk about Camp Rock today and we choose not to talk about that,’’ he said, taking control of the interview as brother Joe and Kevin looked straight ahead. Why not talk about the issue? After all, they are proudly devout Christians – their father Kevin Sr was a minister in the Assembly of God church in New Jersey before the boys hit the big time – and had long made a public show of their chastity with the bands on their ring fingers. Furthermore, the JoBros website quoted Joe Jonas saying he wears the ring as “a promise to myself and God to say pure until marriage”.
Absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, in these days of rampant celebrity exhibitionism when the It Girls are bad girls and bad boys are considered cool, it’s refreshing to see that some people – celebs especially – are not afraid to wear their morality on their sleeve. So far, it seems to be working for them.
Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas remain among the few stars who haven’t been plagued by scandals and tawdry kiss and tell sagas, and their clean-cut image has helped make them multi-media multi-millionaires.
But back to Nick, who hadn’t yet turned 16. Even though there is no first among equals among the JoBros, and sibling rivalry seems to be non-existent, he appeared to be the leader of the pack during our interview for Australia’s sunday magazine. Joe said as much: “I would definitely say Nick is the leader type who I think will be the president one day”. Understandable, when you consider Nick was the first of the boys to get into the entertainment business, having made his Broadway debut, aged eight, playing Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol: The Musical.
Meanwhile, congrats to Kevin – there’ll be millions of hearts breaking across the world tonight, to borrow a memorable line from Top Gun.
And for those of you who want to catch my footage of the JoBros on the red carpet at the world premiere of Camp Rock, see below – and listen for the dish on Nick Jonas’s romantic ways with the girls!
