Brian McFadden has said he made "a very selfish decision" when he left Westlife in 2004 and didn't think about the consequences it could have had for remaining members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan.
Speaking on the first episode of Nicky Byrne's new podcast, Nicky Byrne HQ, McFadden said: "I look back now and can see as a 24-year-old I made a very selfish decision because obviously, I didn’t take the four of you into consideration.
Watch: Westlife perform and chat to Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show in 2003
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"Where my head was at the time, I just needed to sort my own head and life out. That was 20 years ago. I’m 44 now, and the way I think is so different."
McFadden’s departure from Westlife sent shockwaves through the music world as the Irish boyband were at the height of their early success. His decision to step away from the pop group was driven by personal struggles and the demands of balancing his career with his family life, something he still has to do to this day.
McFadden now lives in Manchester with his fiancé Danielle Parkinson and their three-year-old daughter Ruby. He also has two daughters, Molly and Lilly, with his ex-wife Kerry Katona, whom he was with when he decided to leave the pop group.
"The one thing about our career is, it’s quite a selfish career," McFadden said.
"Even now, I still have to leave my family behind. I can’t get to see Molly and Lilly as much as I’d like to because they live in Ireland. If I was working a nine-to-five, I’d see them every night, but it’s not like that. I still have to work to make sure the kids’ college fees are paid and they’ve got a future. I sacrifice a lot of time with them."
McFadden also said that he wishes he had communicated more openly with his bandmates at the time but stands by the decision he made.
"If I could go back now, I probably would have spoken more to you about it," he told Byrne. "But I don’t think my decision would have changed, just because of where my headspace was at the time.
McFadden also made it clear that he holds no ill feelings towards Byrne, Feehily, Egan and Filan.
"I’ve got no bad blood. I can understand why there would be feelings towards me," he said.
"But I think now, it’s been 20 years, and by the way, the six years in Westlife were the greatest six years of my life. I think back to them, and as you saw today, anything we talked about from those years, I have a smile on my face. It was just epic.
"I want people to know how I feel about you boys because I think people have this impression that there’s an us and them, and it’s never been like that for me," he added.
"I always want to make sure that whenever I talk about the band, people do know that I’ve got nothing but fond memories of it and appreciation. My life is what it is now because of the six years in Westlife. It changed forever and for the good."
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