Westlife’s Shane Filan on heartbreak of losing both parents to cancer just months apart

Editor Marvin Jackson - 28 -11- 2021

Westlife heartthrob Shane Filan has spoken out about the pain and grief of losing both of his parents to cancer within 10 months of each other.

Shane, 42, was heartbroken when his mother Mae passed away in December 2019, and then his father, Peter, who passed away  from pancreatic cancer just nine months later in October 2020, he says ‘a part of me broke’.'

'Death and grief are things that you can never be prepared for. You can get bad news, but grief is so final. It’s hard to comprehend,' he explained. 'You’re used to having someone your whole life. You can never touch them again, talk to them again.

He admitted that he still hasn’t ‘fully processed’ the fact both of his parents are gone, recalling a moment this summer, while he was performing, when ‘in the middle of the song I turned around and wept.’

The 42-year-old, who is the youngest of seven siblings, had a very close relationship with both his parents and it was his beloved mum Mae who helped kickstart his pop career.

Shane reflected on the moment Mae, who had been suffering with a cough, was told she had cancer, saying it was ‘life changing’.

Mae fought hard and lived for four more years, getting to see her son’s band reunite and attending their shows despite being so ill.

Tragically, it was at one of these shows where the family realised something wasn’t right with their father, Peter, who was noted to be a ‘funny colour’.

It would soon be revealed that Peter was suffering with pancreatic cancer, with the news hitting Shane ‘like a ton of bricks’.

He reflected on one of his final moments with his father, when Peter ‘hugged me and gave me a kiss on the lips like I was still his little baby son’, it was an ‘incredible’ moment.

Earlier in the week, Shane paid a touching tribute to his mum and dad when he dedicated Westlife's brand new album, Wild Dreams, in their memory.