Westlife star Mark Feehily has opened up about the horrific comments made to him throughout his career about his weight.
The man from Sligo is a quarter of one of Ireland’s biggest pop bands, but says despite all the success, it hasn’t all been easy.
Feehily, now a father-of-one, told RTE’s Ryan Tubridy how his weight always fluctuated, but people in the music industry weren’t afraid to remind him.
He said: “Look, it’s the music industry and back then, people back then would have no problem telling you you’re fat and losing weight.
“Right before you went in front of the camera.”
Tubs replied “Really? Were you told that?”
Mark added: “I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin, it’s only when other people tell me.
“Now instead of someone from a music label, it’s Twitter or Instagram.”
The singer also opened up about being fat-shamed in a magazine, as they zoomed in on a photo of his belly playing tennis, saying it “destroyed” him.
He told RTE’s Ryan Tubridy that he was always conscious of his weight, even before he became famous: “I never liked the camera being on me… I was just conscious of my weight, my weight was always fluctuating its weird because when i was young i never realized i was i fluctuated in and out of a bit overweight not really overweight i always fluctuated in and out of it.
“I was in an all-boys school and you’re very quickly reminded that nicknames come from any little thing that’s different from you. So there were a few nicknames at school but it wasn’t too bad.
“Before you go on TV, you know there’s like 50 million people watching this one and you’re like ‘oh my god’, all I can describe as, say, if the camera is there, the weight on my face, it just wasn’t right, it was something innate that didn’t seem natural to me at all.”
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