Shane Filan said music has helped him through the grief of losing his parents to cancer (Image: DAILY MIRROR)

Westlife’s Shane Filan says the ‘scary’ time during his bankruptcy hell made him a better person, and helped him realise what is really important in life.

After Westlife ended in 2012, the Sligo singer was declared bankrupt with debts of €23million after his property business with his brother Finbarr went bust.

Six years on, his wife Gillian was also declared bankrupt.

During this time, the couple were forced to sell their home in Sligo and relocated to Surrey in the UK.

Almost a decade later, Shane revealed the tough times made them realise the importance of their family.

“I learned so much about how important family is,” he said.

“It was scary because your band is over and you have kids and you’re thinking ‘What’s going to happen here?’

“But Gillian was unbelievably strong,” he told RTE Guide.

(Image: shanefilanofficial/Instagram)

“What happened also made me find an inner confidence to start again and go for it.

“So when I went solo, I knew that it just had to work, there was no other option.

“I feel a better and stronger person after it all and also a much more positive person.

“If you’re lucky in life, you’ll have a few good friends, maybe just one, and I do fortunately, but above all your wife and children are everything.”

Shane and his Westlife bandmates are back together again after reuniting in 2019, and have just released Wild Dreams, available online.

The Flying Without Wings singer dedicated the new album to his parents, after losing them both to cancer within a few months of each other last year.

Shane was still reeling from the death of his beloved mother Mae in December 2019 when, just 10 months later in October 2020, his father Peter passed away from pancreatic cancer.

He told the Irish Mirror: “I got the call in the middle of the night – it was 3am – I knew straight away my dad had gone. It was horrendous. The most grief I’ve ever felt in the space of 60 seconds.

“It was like the world fell out from under me.”

He said that celebrating their lives through music has helped him to cope with his loss.

“I’m most proud of Always With Me, which is about my parents,” he said.

“It’s been cathartic talking about them. I’ll always have lost my parents, but I can process the positive parts of my life with them.

“I’m going to celebrate them, and continue their legacy.”