Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Weststrife
Boyband on their big Wembley comeback and how they’d fare in a punch-up with rivals Five
WESTLIFE aren’t known to be rock wild men – but Nicky Byrne reckons they could have beaten rival boyband Five in a dust-up.
He made the claim ahead of the Irish band’s Wembley Stadium comeback in August. They are promising fans a “whopper of a nostalgia-filled party” when they become the first band to perform there after lockdown restrictions are lifted.
But Nicky let slip that the squeakyclean lads always had a hard edge under their goody-two-shoes image.
The 42-year-old says: “Westlife were the good boys, Five were the bad boys. A band rivalry was implied, on who was the toughest, who was the craziest, and because we sang ballads and were seen as good Irish lads, we were tarred with the ‘good’ brush. We never ended up in a brawl, but we would have fancied our chances!”
Luckily he and bandmates Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan avoided any such scandals despite their fame. And the boys say that while there were some big nights out, they were hardly the debauchery of showbiz legend.
Nicky says: “I read that we had a £20,000 bar tab after we partied with the Backstreet Boys. We might have met them in a nightclub, but that was it. If there was a bar bill like that, it must have been theirs!”
EXCITING
In reality the lads are now more settled than ever with happy marriages and 10 children between them.
They hope to continue the success they had enjoyed since reuniting in 2018, before lockdown ruined their touring plans.
Shane, 41, says of the London gigs: “It is going to be the biggest weekend of our career and we want it to be perfect. A month or two back people might have felt more cautious, but now they are like, ‘bring it on!’ “It’s so exciting.” Mark, 40, became a dad for the first time in October 2019, to Layla, born via a surrogate.
And he and his partner Cailean O’neill are hopeful she will soon have playmates. He says: “We 100% want siblings for Layla.”
Westlife have had an incredible 14 UK number ones since they were signed up by Simon Cowell in 1998.
When they first made it big, the band’s fan base were teenage girls.
Nicky recalls: “These young girls would be throwing teddy bears on to the stage and we’d be ankle deep in them. I never got that really, it’s not like I collected bears!
“I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but I didn’t take them home.
“Now those fans have grown up, and they bring their boyfriends and husbands and these lads are getting into the shows and are up and dancing. It’s a real family affair.”
Support acts for the
Wembley gigs have been confirmed as Anne-marie, James Morrison and All Saints. Shane says: “It is exciting to have light at the end of the tunnel of lockdown.
“It’s going to be the biggest set we’ve ever built, so we’ll rehearse in an aircraft hangar, which will be interesting.”
Laughing at the
idea their iconic stool-based song performances will need including, Nicky says: “The stools will have to be back, we always have a nod to them.
“But we won’t be on them for long as the show is energetic. You are only as old as you feel!” Later in the year they plan to release their 12th album and then have their sights
set on conquering America. Two previous attempts to target the US were cut short but now they are sure the time is right.
Kian, 40, says of their US ambition: “We’ve realised thanks to the internet we have quite a large following there already, so
promoters are willing to give it a whirl, and we’re really excited by that.”
The boys also have their eye on a performance at The White House, especially given the new president’s Irish background, saying optimistically: “We’ve performed for Barack Obama before, but maybe we could play for Joe Biden at The White House on St Patrick’s Day next year.
“That would be amazing!”
Westlife play Wembley Stadium on August 21 and 22. Tickets on sale now at livenation.co.uk. Watch Westlife on the Daily Mirror’s Jess Saying Live now at facebook.com/ Dailymirror/videos.
It’s the biggest set we’ve ever built so we’re going to rehearse in an aircraft hangar SHANE FILAN ON WESTLIFE’S HUGE WEMBLEY CONCERT