Westlife’s Nicky Byrne claims he and his mates could have beaten rival boyband Five in a dust-up, ahead of the Irish outfit’s Wembley Stadium comeback.

Westlife are promising fans a “whopper of a nostalgia-filled party” at the stadium in August.

But Nicky let slip that the squeaky-clean lads always had a hard edge under their goody-two-shoes image.

The 42-year-old says: “Westlife were the good boys, Five were the bad boys. A band rivalry was implied, on who was the toughest, who was the craziest, and because we sang ballads and were seen as good Irish lads, we were tarred with the ‘good’ brush. We never ended up in a brawl, but we would have fancied our chances!”

Luckily he and bandmates Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, and Kian Egan avoided any such scandals despite their fame.

Westlife are promising fans a “whopper of a nostalgia-filled party” at the stadium in August (Image: Getty)
Nicky says: “I read that we had a £20,000 bar tab after we partied with the Backstreet Boys one night. We might have met them in a nightclub, but that was it. If there was a bar bill like that, it must have been theirs!”

In reality, the lads are now more settled than ever, with happy marriages and 10 children between them.

They hope to continue the success they had enjoyed since reuniting in 2018 before lockdown ruined their touring plans.

Westlife have the honour of being the first band to play Wembley after lockdown.

Nicky reckons he and the Westlife boys could beat the Backstreet Boys in a bust-up (Image: Mirrorpix)
Shane, 41, says of the London gigs: “It is going to be the biggest weekend of our career and we want it to be perfect. A month or two back people might have felt more cautious, but now they are like, ‘bring it on!’

“It’s so exciting.”

Mark, 40, became a dad for the first time in October 2019, to Layla, born via a surrogate.

Mark and his partner Cailean O’Neill are hopeful she will soon have playmates.

He said: “We 100% want siblings for Layla,” but cautioned that they first need to work through any issues caused by the pandemic.

Westlife have had an incredible 14 UK number ones since they were signed up by Simon Cowell in 1998.

Westlife have the honour of being the first band to play Wembley after lockdown (Image: Eamonn McCormack)

When they first made it big, the band’s core fan base was teenage girls.

Nicky recalls: “These young girls would be throwing teddy bears onto the stage and we’d be ankle-deep in them. I never got that really, it’s not like I collected bears!

“I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but I didn’t take them home.

“Now those fans have grown up, and they bring their boyfriends and husbands, and these lads are getting into the shows, and up and dancing. It is a real family affair.”

Westlife Mark Feehily and finance Cailean O’Neill
Support acts for the Wembley gigs have been confirmed as Anne-Marie, James Morrison, and All Saints.

Shane says: “It is exciting to have light at the end of the tunnel of lockdown.

“It’s going to be the biggest set we’ve ever built, so we’re going to have to rehearse in an aircraft hangar, which will be interesting.”

Laughing at the idea their iconic stool-based song performances will need including, Nicky says: “The stools will have to be back, we always have a nod to them.

“But we won’t be on them for long as the show is energetic. You are only as old as you feel!” Later in the year they plan to release their 12th album and then have their sights set on conquering America.

Irish Pop Group Westlife October 1999 (Image: PA)
Two previous attempts to target the US were cut short but now they are sure the time is right.

Kian, 40, says of their US ambition: “We’ve realised thanks to the internet we have quite a large following there already, so promoters are willing to give it a whirl, and we are really excited by that.”

The boys also have their eye on a performance at The White House, especially given the new president’s Irish background, saying optimistically: “We’ve performed for Barack Obama before, but maybe we could play for Joe Biden at The White House on St Patrick’s Day next year.

“That would be amazing!”