Westlife enjoyed an emotional reunion with former boss Simon Cowell after Britain’s Got Talent, while Shane Filan’s kids were star-struck by another judge…
12:54, 10 May 2026Updated 12:56, 10 May 2026
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Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne of Westlife(Image: Dymond/TalkbackThames/Shutterstock)
Fresh from their performance on Britain’s Got Talent, Westlife are storming towards another number one album.
On the weekend they took to the stage for the ITV semi-final, the band are currently outselling the rest of their top 75 rivals, according to the latest chart figures. Westlife 25: The Ultimate Collection, was released on Friday to coincide with the group’s 25 year celebrations.
Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne reunited with former boss Simon Cowell and sang a medley of hits including Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings, World Of Our Own and Uptown Girl.
A source close to ITV said: “The band came off stage absolutely buzzing and it felt like a real celebration of everything they’ve achieved. The atmosphere in the studio was electric and it was a real love-in backstage too.
“Shane flew his family over especially for the album release and the show, and there was a lovely moment backstage where his kids got to meet KSI, who they’re huge fans of.
“The lads also reunited with Simon Cowell backstage afterwards, which genuinely felt like a full-circle moment for everyone. Simon was there right from the very beginning, so to see Westlife still breaking records, making chart history and performing to millions all these years later was really special.”
Westlife thrilled fans with a medley of their greatest hits(Image: Dymond/TalkbackThames/Shutterstock)
They added: “Moments like tonight are exactly why Westlife have stood the test of time, huge songs, a massive TV stage and a crowd that knows every word. There’s a real buzz around the band right now, the album’s flying, the fans are showing up in force and they’re genuinely having the time of their lives up there.”
It was Simon who gave the band their first record contract back in 1998 and they haven’t looked back since.
Speaking to the Mirror, Shane, 46, said: “BGT will be the first time we’ve seen Simon in a few years. He was such a huge part of all those songs, all those ballads. He was the one who wanted us to be different. He didn’t want us to be the Backstreet Boys or Take That. He wanted us to sing big powerful ballads. And we did seven in a row! We were like, ‘What is going on here?’ But we got seven number ones and Simon was right.”
Nicky gave a shout out to former boss Simon Cowell(Image: Dymond/TalkbackThames/Shutterstock)
“The achievement gave Westlife seven consecutive number one singles, a feat even The Beatles never matched.
Kian admits, “At the start we were definitely worried about how many love songs we were releasing. But when we look back on it now we realise that this is the music that stands the test of time, it’s songs like Swear It Again, You Raise Me Up and Flying Without Wings.”
“There was a part of us that wanted this so badly,” said Nicky. “I remember a conversation with Simon at RCA records where we said, ‘We want this. We don’t want any days off,’ and he laughed and winked at us and said, ‘I’ll hold you to that.’ But we absolutely meant it.
“There is no such thing as part-time pop stars,” he added. “We’ve always said that. And when we signed that deal it was almost like singing an imaginary letter to our families where we said, ‘Look I’m going to jump on this ship now and I don’t know when I’ll be back.’ And we committed to it. And we committed to each other. And it took off beyond our imagination and our lives changed inside out so quickly. We got an opportunity, we took it and we ran with it.”
This week the band added even more dates to their world tour which will see them head off to America, New Zealand and Australia after kicking things off in Dublin.
Westlife’s new album 25 – The Ultimate Collection is out now. Final tickets for the UK leg of Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour are on sale now at LiveNation.co.uk.