Westlife Celebrates 25 Years Of Iconic Boyband Hits | This Morning

Now we're joined by Pop Royalty in the studio to celebrate 25 years of Chart Topper Nuts Westlife about with a brand new album. And Shane, Nicky and Kian, I mean a couple of members like lads if you need a sub. Look I'm good Dermot actually. You're my best boy. I see you dancing on the radio every Saturday morning. Oh it's so nice to have you guys back. So tell us about the new album, got the classics in there, some new songs as well. Yeah it's the ultimate collection, 25 years of memories of songs, of hits, our whole life really. Yeah and we've four new songs on there as well so it's an amazing kind of day, an amazing moment for us. We're very proud boys, I'd say it's probably the best way. Was it always the plan, 25 years? As in from the beginning? To look back at no, to look back. I mean obviously no, but I always do remember at the very beginning that all the big boy bands at that time, boy bands at that time, Boys Don't Take That, New Kids, Backstreet, everything was five years and I remember conversations where we would say let's beat that, let's you know and we did and we've got to 14 before we took the seven-year sabbatical and then we did the big reunion with Hello My Love, Ed Sheeran wrote that big record for us and and since then you know obviously Covid's been in the middle but we've just had the best time because our kids get to enjoy it now, our families are coming along and I think we're very very lucky boys to be able to still do it at this level you know. My god you're making a lot of people feel very old today, 25 years. You don't look it, I don't know what you lot have been doing but you don't look any different. Thank you, it's the West of Ireland air. West of Ireland air, maybe the odd Guinness here and there, just the odd one term. So making the album, has it brought back loads of fond memories over those 25 years? Oh definitely like you know when even when we look at those videos you know and kind of listen to those songs I think it's hard to believe that that's even us you know I mean 25 years and all the memories coming to London for the first time you know we've got the 25th anniversary tour coming up in September and October here in the UK and you know putting the setlist together, going through the songs, going through the history, it's just incredible you know. How nice is it when you see like some of your fans turn up and then you see them coming with their kids as well? Yeah that's happening now it's kind of even three generations you'd see mums with their kids and then their kids. Oh my god. The mums now that were let's say 50 or 60 bringing their kids back in the day are you know they're they're 78 you know you'd have three people so it is it's lovely to see it and I think that's maybe why we're doing more shows now our bigger shows like this tour is probably going to be the biggest tour we've ever done which is great to say after 25 years but it is because there's more there's more families coming to our show now which is great. What are your memories like because I sometimes look back like someone said oh I saw you remember the thing on T4 and I go I don't remember that at all yeah and then someone shows me on YouTube and go god no we did do that do you have that as well because you like you know a boy band's life is so it's just it's so hectic it's like tour promo right tour promo yeah just never stop. You do you kind of I said this yesterday you kind of um you kind of sign an imaginary contract with your family to say look we're gone now we have this opportunity and we didn't come home for years we get on with Christmas or something but then people show us stuff and only a few weeks ago somebody tagged me on Instagram of a performance we did with Mariah Carey now obviously we did quite a few with it we had a number one with Against All Odds when you look at this performance and it's Mariah and the five of us and I'm going I don't remember to be able to say that it was probably the biggest global icon when we were showing up yeah and it's been low people will say to you have you ever met and you go no I don't think I did and then one of the boys will chip in and go yeah do you remember yeah it is those crazy crazy years but having those moments and having those nostalgic moments on stage now with people in the arenas and people stop you every day and say you were on my wall and you know that type of stuff and that's something really lovely about that. We did an interview with a girl yesterday and she showed us a video of her and her younger sister listening to our album Coast to Coast back in 2001 or whatever and there she was interviewing us yesterday and we're kind of like are we that old? Okay now we are. What a career you've had and obviously you go back to Ireland and see your family what like what do they say about it because you're still absolutely smashing it. I think they're very proud you know like we're very proud ourselves but it is great when we we obviously spend a lot of time in Ireland as well but I think everybody at home as well as is proud of us too you know we're Irish boys we're very proud of that we try and fly the flag all around the world as much as we can but we have an incredible army of fans you know that has kept us going it's the fans are the ones that do it you know we're just delighted to be part of which is beautiful you know it's lovely. Speaking of the army of fans was there a because you know it's a global tour back in the day was there a moment where you touched down in a country and you looked out the window or whatever and you went what how do these people know how do these people know us you know I mean what country? It happened a lot in Southeast Asia and there would have been thousands of people at the airports I remember we all do army the army taking us out of the terminal and you're shaking our hands as we and in that part of the world it's crazy because you'd be filming tv shows and the cameraman would be you know and they'd stretch around and shake your hand you'd be in the middle of something one of the biggest moments was My Love because My Love was a big song for us and probably bigger internationally than it was in the UK and Ireland and the video was lovely on the west coast of Ireland the cliffs of Moher but we got to China and everyone knew that song and then it transpired that they were teaching English to the kids in schools back from 2000 2001 through song through My Love so now we go back and those kids are in their 30s with their own kids yeah and they're like singing My Love it's the biggest Westlife song for us around internationally around it's absolutely huge like it's crazy. I love the stories how your success and your impact is completely different in a different culture in a different language. It's pretty crazy. Listen boys it's lovely to have you with us. Thank you very much for having us always a pleasure to be here. Best you're so busy I keep seeing you absolutely everywhere so yeah still smashing it 25 years later Westlife The Ultimate Collection is out now. Thank you guys.