Westlife’s Mark Feehily says therapy made him realise he was homophobic before giving him courage to come out

Mark said everything was on hold before revealing his sexuality.

(Image: Publicity Picture)

Westlife’s Mark Feehily has revealed how therapy led him to realise he was homophobic – giving him the courage to come out in 2005.

The Sligo singer said he hid his sexuality for so long and never dated men for fear of being found out at the height of the band’s fame.

Mark, 41, added: “I did some therapy sessions with an older lady, she was like my granny’s age group.

“Through therapy she put it all out on the table, there was the eureka moment when she told me, ‘Do you realise you’re actually homophobic?’

“I was like, ‘How dare you, I’m gay’, but she unwrapped the whole idea, I was like, ‘This is a joke, I‘m homophobic’.

“It was a big turning point in my head, it was the beginning of everything unravelling quite quickly.

“Not too long after that she was giving me my homework, which was to go home and come out to my parents.”

Opening up on BBC Sounds’ When I Was 25 series, Mark told host Vinny Hurrell everything was on hold before revealing his sexuality.

Westlife Mark Feehily and finance Cailean O’Neill
He said: “My life was really on pause behind the scenes until that happened. I was there, I was present, let’s say we went out to a club after one of our gigs, I’d have fun, I’d be talking to people, I’d form friendships.

“Being gay doesn’t define you but it’s also a huge part of who you are so I had that switched off or muted. It was locked away, I was living half a life.

“It was made less enjoyable because on the other side you have this success, screaming fans and huge record sales.

“People would say, ‘How could you possibly complain?’ but I said, ‘You know what would make it a whole lot better, if I could be myself and not be worried and scared.”

Revealing why he never dated men during the Westlife era, Mark said: “I came out to my family and friends around 2003 and then the lads in early 2004.

“I know there are gay pop stars out there who might be straight to the public or might sneak out to the gay clubs, I couldn’t I was so scared.

“If I was in some Indie band, yeah, but I’m in Westlife, we’re such a mainstream act.

“I had this guilt, I’m not the type of person to live a lie, I suppose in the end the only person stopping myself from getting out of the situation was me.”