Pop war was deliberately Spiced up to sell records, say Westlife

WESTLIFE have confessed their record bosses cooked up a faux chart rivalry with the Spice Girls to generate more record sales for both bands.

And the Irish lads, whose first single in eight years — Hello My Love — is out tomorrow, say the stunt worked.

In 2000, their album Coast To Coast went to No.1, trumping the Spice Girls’ record Forever.

Singer Mark Feehily, 38, exclusively told Guilty Pleasures: ‘Both record labels — unbeknownst to us and the Spice Girls — thought, “We’ll sell more if we go-head to-head”. We were at different stages of our career. We were at that moment where it couldn’t get any bigger. If we went up against their first album it would have been a different story.’

Bandmate Shane Filan, 39, added: ‘I think the Spice Girls are very happy with their career! Our our albums just came out at the same time.’ On the comeback trail at the same time as their old rivals, Westlife — completed by Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne — also have a fifth member dilemma.

While the Spice Girls wanted Victoria Beckham to join their reunion tour, the lads say ex-bandmate Brian McFadden is not welcome back.

‘We’ve got nothing against Brian but he’s just not a member of Westlife since he left,’ said Shane.

Author: Andrei Harmsworth