Mark Feehily’s social media update on Tuesday has sparked confusion from Westlife fans after his bandmates failed to acknowledge the post.
The singer, 45, delighted his followers as he shared his first post in more than a year, following a period of ill health, which forced him to miss out on Westlife’s ongoing world tour.
He has publicly shared that he’s been battling several illnesses over the past several years, which have significantly affected his ability to tour and perform and seen him take a break from social media.
However, this week Mark returned to Instagram to share a snap of himself at RTE Radio 1 in Ireland wearing headphones, and announcing that he will now be hosting three shows at the station.
Apologising for his absence, he revealed he still isn’t well enough to get on stage and shared his sadness to be missing out on the world tour.
But, the Irish star gushed over the reaction the band had received so far, thanking fans for all of their unwavering support.
Mark Feehily’s social media update on Tuesday has sparked confusion from Westlife fans after his bandmates failed to acknowledge the postÂ
The singer, 45, delighted his followers as he shared his first post in more than a year, following a period of ill health, which forced him to miss out on Westlife’s ongoing world tour (L-R Kian Egan, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne)
Mark’s surprise return sparked a flood of delighted messages from followers, who took to the comments to send well-wishes.
However, some fans couldn’t help but notice that all three of his bandmates, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne, had failed to respond at all to his update.
The only support he received from the Westlife camp came from Kian’s wife Jodi Albert, who commented with a string of heart emojis.
It was confirmed earlier this year that Mark would not be joining his bandmates due to ongoing health woes, which began after he underwent routine surgery in August 2020.
A few days following the procedure, he experienced severe pain and was rushed to hospital, where complications developed into sepsis.
He spent months in the intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic and required emergency surgery to address it.Â
Then, in late 2021, Mark became seriously ill before a scheduled concert and was diagnosed with pneumonia.Â
This chest infection forced him to miss shows on Westlife’s Wild Dreams Tour and marked another significant setback in his recovery.
He has publicly shared that he’s been battling several illnesses over the past several years, which have significantly affected his ability to tour and perform and seen him take a break from social media (seen in 2022)
This week Mark returned to Instagram to share a snap of himself at RTE Radio 1 in Ireland wearing headphones, and announcing that he will now be hosting three shows at the station
Following his pneumonia, Mark continued to face complications from his earlier illness and surgeries.Â
He developed a large incisional hernia – a weakness or tear at the site of his surgical incision – which required further major surgery.
Reports state he has undergone four major surgeries related to these health battles within the last four and a half years.
In his career update this week, Mark looked in good spirits, as he revealed that he will be hosting radio shows on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
He began his heartfelt message: ‘Heya! A little message from me to you from the heart. It’s been so long, sorry about the lack of posting… I’ve missed ya!
‘It’s been quite difficult to watch my bands big World Tour launch knowing I won’t be able to be there with you all to join the party.
‘However, it’s been really amazing to see our band still flying so high, and the incredible global support that’s still there for us. YOUR support!
‘That same phenomenal support you have blessed us with from day ONE in Sligo back in the late 90s & as we slowly but surely went on to build the Westlife legacy piece by piece for over 3 decades, literally thousands of days and nights together on stage and in studios and on trains, planes and automobiles, is something that blows my mind to this day, something I am so proud to be a part of.
However, some fans couldn’t help but notice that all three of his bandmates, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne, had failed to respond at all to his update (Nicky, Kian, Mark, Brian McFadden and Shane seen in 2000)
The only support he received from the Westlife camp came from Kian’s wife Jodi Albert, who commented with a string of heart emojis
‘The 25th anniversary tour is gonna be a really special celebration of what we have all built and achieved together!’
He continued: ‘All of this really drives home the honest truth that I’m simply not ready to take on a massive world tour yet.
‘My body and my mind need time. However, thankfully, sitting in a chair to do a radio show is a completely different physical and mental demand to doing a massive world tour and I feel very lucky to be able to do this new @rteradio1 show.
‘It’s not quite a stadium show but it’s a HUGE deal and achievement for me! Right now, to sit back and do absolutely nothing would make things much worse for me both medically and emotionally – so here goes!’
In October, Westlife paid tribute to Mark on stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall to mark their 25th anniversary – after confirming he is ‘still part of the band’.Â
During their rendition of 1999’s Flying Without Wings, the group opted to use The Voice and Clean Bandit star Kirsten Joy as a stand-in to sing Mark’s lines – which are often deemed the finest work in the group’s rich history.
At the show, in which the trio played alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Shane paid tribute to their beloved bandmate, telling the crowd: ‘I want to take a minute to talk about Mark, who unfortunately is not with us tonight.Â
‘But we love him, we miss him, and we cannot wait to have him back on this stage with us…
It was confirmed earlier this year that Mark would not be joining his bandmates due to ongoing health woes, which began after he underwent routine surgery in August 2020 (pictured 2021)
In October, Westlife paid tribute to Mark on stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall to mark their 25th anniversary – after confirming he is ‘still part of the band’ (seen)Â
At the show, in which the trio played alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Shane paid tribute to their beloved bandmate (seen)Â
‘The good news is he’s obviously on the new music, which you’ve heard already, Chariot, And, the next album as well, we have a new album coming out in February.
‘So this next song, I want to dedicate it to Mark because it’s Mark’s favorite song. That might give you a hint. It’s a beautiful song. So tonight we’d like to dedicate it to him and I’d like to invite Kirsten Joy down to sing it with us.Â
‘This song is probably the song that changed our whole career.’
Despite the vocal powerhouse’s absence, in October, Shane detailed the ‘importance’ of Mark’s appearance on the music and lauded his ‘great’ vocals on their new songs.
In an interview with Irish outlet RTE News, he explained: ‘[Mark] is unable to join the tour unfortunately as he’s mentioned already but being on the new song is very important…
‘He’s still a member of this band obviously and he’s sounding great on the new songs. We’ve got four new songs and an album coming out after Christmas…
‘A greatest hits compilation with four new songs but the new song that’s out next Friday is a really upbeat tune and it’s great to have him on there.’
