Former Westlife member Brian McFadden claimed that Louis Walsh ill-treated him when they worked together.
The Irish singer was a part of the boyband formed by music manager Louis Walsh in 1998. Although the band became a real chartbuster, Brian claims his journey to fame wasn’t without problems, especially with their manager.
The Pointless Celebrities guest star said he “hated” Louis, for allegedly “fat-shaming” him and creating an unpleasant working environment.
Brian MacFadden ‘hated’ Louis Walsh
In the BBC docuseries Boyband Forever, Brian spoke about working with Louis when he was part of Westlife, which he quit in 2004.
While discussing the flipside to fame, he claimed that the former X Factor judge was allegedly mean to him and his former bandmates – Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan.
He alleged that Louis “fat-shamed” him, and he was “just horrendous”. Brian said: “I hated Louis. Louis would walk into a room and go, ‘Hey everyone’, and then he’d look at me and go, ‘Brian’ (blowing his cheeks out). Basically saying that I’m fat.”
Despite accusations of creating a hostile work environment against Louis, Brian said “very few things that he touched didn’t turn to gold.”
Joining the popular boyband after working as a McDonald’s security guard was an “unrealistic dream” for Brian. However, he and his former bandmates were always made to prioritise their band over everything else.
“It was made very clear to us by the powers that be that our personal lives 100 percent came second to Westlife,” he said in the BBC docuseries.
He added: “We had times where we had relatives die and we couldn’t go to the funeral because there was a gig or an interview that day.”
Other complaints against Louis Walsh
Other members of Westlife have echoed Brian’s emotions about the difficult working relationship with Louis.
During a conversation with Daily Mail, Nicky said: “‘Louis was always on at you. The first thing he’d say when I walked in the room was: ‘Your teeth are [bleep]ing terrible.’ What did he want me to do? They were my teeth. I remember saying once: ‘Your teeth are [bleep]ing horrible, too.'”
Louis allegedly responded: “I know but I’m not on TV.” Nicky claims his remarks prompted him to get a brace.
Kian, also upset with his manager, claimed at the time: “We lived in fear of Louis. He was like: ‘You’re done. I’m going to kick you out of the band. I’m going to put you on the next plane home. Only four people can fit in a taxi, not five.'”
Meanwhile, Shane impersonated the former X Factor judge, saying: “Shane, you don’t look great. Your hair’s terrible. You look fat. Watch yourself, there are only three Bee Gees.”
However, he couldn’t disagree that Louis had exceptional managerial skills. “We were definitely scared of him. He was a very powerful man – only a tenth as powerful as he is now – but the best manager in the world for us,” Shane said.
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