Westlife star devastated after bandmate quit – as reason for feud revealed

ok.co.uk:

Westlife's Kian Egan opened up in 2021 about the tensions with Brian McFadden following his departure due to a dislike of their music – yet shockingly, he still performs those tracks with his new band.

At the peak of Westlife's fame in 2004 and just weeks away from another world tour, Brian's exit was a bombshell - and all of this is set to be revisisted in the Boybands Forever documentary which will continue on Saturday (23 November).

Fans will remember an emotional press conference that saw a tearful Kian reading out a heartfelt message from the band to Brian, expressing their turmoil.

Contrary to previous denials of any rift, Kian revealed his fears that Brian's departure would mean the end of Westlife. Speaking to the Irish Mirror three years ago, he confessed: "Of course there were hard feelings." Kian elaborated on the group's concerns in 2021, saying, "I mean he left us at a time when we were just about to step out on tour and we kind of felt like 'is this the end?' You know. 'Is it all over now?" He further reflected on how other bands' experiences made them fear the worst: "We looked at bands like Take That and Spice Girls and it seemed to be the case that once one member of the band left it was over.