Why Mark Feehily is missing from Westlife’s Britain’s Got Talent performance
The band were back on the stageWestlife returned to the stage this weekend for Britain’s Got Talent – but where was Mark Feehily?
The Irish boyband shot to fame in the late ‘90s and originally consisted of Brian McFadden, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, and Mark Feehily. Brian ended up leaving in 2004 with the group continuing as a foursome since.
And with a new greatest hits album to promote, the band performed on Britain’s Got Talent today (May 10). However, Mark Feehily was missing from the line-up…
Mark Feehily missing from Westlife performance
The Westlife boys returned to the stage on Sunday (May 10) for an appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. But fans will know that there were two notable OG members missing from the stage…
As well as Brian McFadden, lead singer Mark Feehily also didn’t make an appearance. This is down to Mark’s recovery from his health battles in recent years.
In 2020, he contracted sepsis following a routine operation and was in intensive care. He was then diagnosed with pneumonia in late 2021. Following his initial illness, Mark has undergone four major surgeries to address complications.
Then in 2024, Mark announced he had to take a step back from the group due to ill health. Fast forward to June 2025, and Mark revealed he had to pull out of the band’s 25th anniversary tour and has remained out of the spotlight.
Westlife’s brutal response to Brian McFadden reunion
While Mark is expected to make his Westlife return in the near future, fans naturally want Brian to make a comeback to Westlife too.
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However, when asked about a Brian comeback, Shane said: “We’ve been together as four now since 2004 — that’s 22 years. You can never say never, but that would be way down the road if we’d ever consider that.
As The Sunday Times reports, he added: “We’ve got so much ahead of us with this tour at the moment so we’re just excited about living this dream at the moment.”
Mark ‘still recovering mentally and physically’
It comes after Nicky Byrne shared an update on Mark’s recovery. Speaking to RSVP Live, Nicky said he doesn’t believe Mark will be well enough to join the lads on their 25th anniversary tour, even for a brief appearance.
He said: “I don’t believe so, but we all hope so.” Sharing more, he continued: “I can only go on what Mark has always said publicly, and he’s not there yet.
“He’s still recovering both mentally and physically and you just have to give him his time, and we are.”
That doesn’t mean the boys aren’t missing him, though, and “can’t wait” for him to be well enough to return.
“We can’t wait for Mark to be back, we miss him dearly and we really hope he comes back soon. He’s said he’s not going to do this tour, but if something changes, that would be like a reunion in itself, it would be amazing,” Nicky added.
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