MARK FEEHILY OF the boyband Westlife has announced he is stepping back from touring as he needs to focus on recovering from a series of health problems that began in 2020. 

The popstar made the announcement in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying he regretted having to make the decision but needed to focus on his health. 

“It is with the upmost level of regret that I must now temporarily stand down from all Westlife touring until a time that I have had the chance to fully recover from the turbulent journey I have been through as an individual,” he wrote. 

The 43-year-old singer gave a detailed account of his health struggles over the last three and a half years, including undergoing four major surgeries for different medical reasons, as well as battles with sepsis and pneumonia. 

This saga of medical misfortune began, he said, in August 2020 when he was admitted to the ICU after contracting sepsis, a highly dangerous infection, following an operation. 

“I spent the next few months in hospital,” he said. 

“It was during lockdown. For months, due to strict Covid restrictions, I was not allowed any visitors including my fiancé and my then 10-month-old daughter,” he wrote.

“It was physically and mentally a very difficult time, not to mention traumatic having to spend so long in ICU.”

Since being discharged from intensive care, Feehily said he has suffered ongoing health complications. 

“In late 2021, I became very ill in Newcastle before a concert and ended up back in A&E, this time being told I had pneumonia.

“I was told I had to go straight home to recover and regrettably miss the rest of the concerts that December. I was referred to a consultant who told me I needed more surgery which I went ahead with in May 2022 meaning I was forced to miss more of The Wild Dreams tour.”

Three months later, he said he tried his best to “soldier on” for Westlife’s fans but that the demands of touring and performing proved to much for him.

“I developed a very large ‘incisional hernia’ and I was told that I needed further surgery to fix it. This would be my fourth major surgery since the start of it all, but I had no option.”

After the success of that fourth operation, Feehily said that recovery remains his top priority and he has therefore pulled out of the boyband’s upcoming tour, which will see the remaining three members play shows in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. 

Finally, Feehily thanked his family and friends, the medical staff who treated him and his bandmates for all their support over the last number of years. 

Wishing his bandmates luck on the tour, Feehily said, “I know you’ll knock it out of the park”.