Louis Walsh says a Westlife reunion will happen – but without Brian McFadden.
The ‘Flying Without Wings’ group’s manager only wants the "Fab Four", Shane Filan, Mark Feehily , Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan, to be involved in any reformation, not the 37-year-old singer – who left the band in 2004 to pursue solo projects – despite him saying "never say never" to rejoining his former bandmates in the future.
‘X Factor’ judge Louis said: "Brian won’t be involved, it will be the Fab Four. Totally.
"The four of them just see them themselves as Westlife."
The 65-year-old Irishman says he wants it to be just the four of them because they’ll be "happy", and said it’s more convenient considering three of them all live in the same town.
When asked if Brian begged to be included, Louis told The Sun newspaper: "No, I prefer a happy band and four happy people.
"They all know each other, they all respect each other.
"Three of them live in the same town in Sligo, so it makes more sense."
It comes after Shane said a reunion "could happen" in the future.
The 38-year-old singer gets asked if the band will get back together all the time and his honest answer was that he "doesn’t know," but he’ll never say never.
Asked if he thinks the group – who disbanded in 2012 – will reunite one day, Shane exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "The Westlife question I get asked all the time.
"The honest truth is I don’t know. It could happen someday, of course there is a chance, but there is also a chance that it might not."
The ‘Uptown Girl’ star says when he meets up with Nicky, Kian and Markus, they never talk about reuniting, but they do reminisce on their time in the chart-topping band, which sold over 50 million records worldwide during their career spanning 14 years.
He continued: "We haven’t talked about it. There is no plans right now.
"Whether that will change in the future, I suppose you will have to wait and see you never know.
"We still have a friendship. It’s always nice to see the lads. Whenever I see the lads it’s never awkward.
"When we see each other it’s nice and we chat about stuff and reminisce.
"We have a bond that no matter whether the band happens again we will always have a bond that no one else has."
Louis Walsh: Westlife will Fly Without Brian McFadden
