{"id":442352,"date":"2026-05-10T22:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/442352\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T22:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:26:16","slug":"westlife-members-shut-down-brian-mcfadden-reunion-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/442352\/","title":{"rendered":"Westlife members shut down Brian McFadden reunion plea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Westlife have responded to rumours of a reunion with former member Brian McFadden, though they haven\u2019t given fans much hope.<\/p>\n<p>Brian was part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/extra.ie\/2026\/05\/08\/hotpress\/westlife-release-25th-anniversary-album\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">original group<\/a> as they rose to fame in the 1990s, before separating to pursue a solo career in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, Westlife has continued as a four-man group, with Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/westlife-90s.jpg\" alt=\"Westlife, 1990s\" class=\"wp-image-1768237\"  \/>Brian was part of the original group as they rose to fame in the 1990s. Pic: Gareth Davies\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>However, Mark has been dealing with a series of health issues over the past few years and was absent from their most recent appearance.<\/p>\n<p>Westlife appeared on Britain\u2019s Got Talent on Saturday to promote their new <a href=\"https:\/\/extra.ie\/2026\/05\/09\/entertainment\/westlife-early-interview\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">greatest hits album<\/a>, though fans were quick to notice the missing man.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Mark developed sepsis after a routine operation and spent time in intensive care.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/mark-feehily.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Feehily, Westlife\" class=\"wp-image-1482697\"  \/>Mark has been dealing with a series of health issues over the past few years. Pic: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<p>The following year, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and has since undergone four major surgeries.<\/p>\n<p>Due to his health concerns, Mark announced that he would be taking time away from the group in 2024, revealing last year that he would miss <a href=\"https:\/\/evoke.ie\/2026\/05\/01\/entertainment\/celebrity\/westlife-spectacular-residency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the band\u2019s 25th anniversary tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fans remain hopeful that the singer could return to Westlife in the future, yet Brian\u2019s comeback appears much less likely.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Westlife-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1768536\"  \/>Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan and Kian Egan, of Westlife, at a press conference briefing at the 3Arena in Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins\/Collins Photos<\/p>\n<p>Speaking about the possibility to The Sunday Times, Shane Filan said: \u2018We\u2019ve been together as four now since 2004 \u2014 that\u2019s 22 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You can never say never, but that would be way down the road if we\u2019d ever consider that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He added that the group\u2019s focus at the moment is on their tour, with Nicky Byrne also recently admitting that he expects Westlife to stay as a trio for the near future.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to RSVP Live about Mark\u2019s health, Nicky said: \u2018I don\u2019t believe so, but we all hope so. I can only go on what Mark has always said publicly, and he\u2019s not there yet.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s still recovering both mentally and physically and you just have to give him his time, and we are.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>However, he reassured fans that the group are very eager for the singer to return and they are ready for the day that he rejoins them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westlife have responded to rumours of a reunion with former member Brian McFadden, though they haven\u2019t given fans&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-442352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}