{"id":32932,"date":"2026-05-10T12:51:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/32932\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T12:51:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:51:59","slug":"westlife-hit-new-high-with-album-surge-after-britains-got-talent-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/32932\/","title":{"rendered":"Westlife hit new high with album surge after Britain’s Got Talent performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n

12:54, 10 May 2026Updated 12:56, 10 May 2026<\/p>\n

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"Kian<\/p>\n

Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne of Westlife(Image: Dymond\/TalkbackThames\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Fresh from their performance on Britain’s Got Talent<\/a>, Westlife are storming towards another number one album.<\/p>\n

On the weekend they took to the stage for the ITV<\/a> 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<\/a>, was released on Friday to coincide with the group’s 25 year celebrations.<\/p>\n

Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne reunited with former boss Simon Cowell<\/a> and sang a medley of hits including Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings, World Of Our Own and Uptown Girl.<\/p>\n

A source close to ITV said: \u201cThe band came off stage absolutely buzzing and it felt like a real celebration of everything they\u2019ve achieved. The atmosphere in the studio was electric and it was a real love-in backstage too.<\/p>\n

“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\u2019re huge fans of.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

\"Westlife<\/p>\n

Westlife thrilled fans with a medley of their greatest hits(Image: Dymond\/TalkbackThames\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

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\u2019s a real buzz around the band right now, the album\u2019s flying, the fans are showing up in force and they\u2019re genuinely having the time of their lives up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Simon who gave the band their first record contract back in 1998 and they haven’t looked back since.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Mirror<\/a>, Shane, 46, said: \u201cBGT will be the first time we\u2019ve 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\u2019t want us to be the Backstreet Boys or Take That<\/a>. He wanted us to sing big powerful ballads. And we did seven in a row! We were like, \u2018What is going on here?\u2019 But we got seven number ones and Simon was right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nicky<\/p>\n

Nicky gave a shout out to former boss Simon Cowell(Image: Dymond\/TalkbackThames\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe achievement gave Westlife seven consecutive number one singles, a feat even The Beatles never matched.<\/p>\n

Kian admits, \u201cAt 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\u2019s songs like Swear It Again, You Raise Me Up and Flying Without Wings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a part of us that wanted this so badly,\u201d said Nicky. \u201cI remember a conversation with Simon at RCA records where we said, \u2018We want this. We don\u2019t want any days off,\u2019 and he laughed and winked at us and said, \u2018I\u2019ll hold you to that.\u2019 But we absolutely meant it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no such thing as part-time pop stars,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019ve always said that. And when we signed that deal it was almost like singing an imaginary letter to our families where we said, \u2018Look I\u2019m going to jump on this ship now and I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ll be back.\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week the band added even more dates to their world<\/a> tour which will see them head off to America, New Zealand and Australia<\/a> after kicking things off in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Westlife\u2019s new album 25 \u2013 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westlife enjoyed an emotional reunion with former boss Simon Cowell after Britain’s Got Talent, while Shane Filan’s kids…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,171,335,14206,15373,14207,392,14209],"class_list":{"0":"post-32932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-britains-got-talent","10":"tag-itv","11":"tag-kian-egan","12":"tag-nicky-byrne","13":"tag-shane-filan","14":"tag-simon-cowell","15":"tag-westlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116550378652130321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}