Westlife members’ kids already following in their footsteps by forming their own little band
‘They have a backstage crew going on’
Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily of Westlife (Image: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock)
Westlife have revealed how their children are already following in their footsteps by forming their own little band.
They also told of their amazement at watching Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell go from behind-the-scenes management to global superstars.
“Westlife Two Cousins is what they call themselves. Shane is married to my first cousin so that actually makes our children related.
“They’ve formed a little band. Nicole is writing songs and Nicky’s little girl Gia was only six at the time – she was security.
“We always wanted to film them because they were actually quite good. Gia would be like ‘No, you’re not allowed to film.’ She would be coming around and pulling the phones off us.”
Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily of Westlife (Image: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock)
The group spoke about how they are all now fathers, with Mark Feehily the most recent band member to have a child.
“They have a backstage crew going on. There are 10 of them backstage now. They’re so lovely”, said Shane Filan.
Nicky Byrne said it has been interesting watching their manager, Louis Walsh, became internationally famous as a TV star.
“The thing is at the beginning Louis was very much a behind-the-scenes manager.
“He started off way back decades ago managing show bands and he eventually got into pop music.
“He ended up a celebrity himself. So, there was a turning point where he was like ‘Hang on a minute. I actually know what it feels like to be on your side of the camera.’
“And then he had a change of heart, and he very much now understands what our life is. He’s much more empathetic.”
Kian Egan remembers how the tables turned when they were surrounded by Simon Cowell’s fans in a nightclub in America.
“When we started off with Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell and both of them weren’t famous.
“They were both very successful in their own right but they weren’t famous. During our career they became some of the most famous men on the planet. More famous than us.
“Kian adds “There was a very funny moment in a nightclub with Louis and Simon in LA. At this point, Simon was like Brad Pitt in America. When we were in that club, everybody wanted to be near him. We were a pop band, but Simon had become this global superstar.”
The band also reminisced with Jonathan Ross at performing at Wayne Rooney’s wedding.
“It was actually Coleen (Rooney) who booked us for Wayne as a surprise. We thought it was the other way around – we thought Coleen might be the fan.
“He came up and sang with us. He kind of rapped it. It was only a small wedding, I think there were 70 people at it. It was the smallest gig we ever did but it was fun.”
Kian recalls partying the night away at the wedding following their performance.
He said: “I definitely got a bit carried away. We started having a few drinks and before you know it you’re at the bar doing shots with one of Wayne’s cousins or something like that.”
He adds “I remember being carried out by our security and going back up to our dressing room in the hotel and vomiting into the bathtub!”
