Singer Shane Filan, of former Westlife fame, has revealed that his religious faith got him through tough times. 

The star explained recently that declaring bankruptcy was incredibly hard, but he turned to his beliefs in order to stay strong and it worked for him.

Filan said: "In general I say a prayer, I have a lot of faith, I don't go to mass every day, but I do go to mass as often as I can.

"I do like to take a moment and just pray and hope everything is going to be OK. During that time I would talk to the room, talk to God, and say, 'Listen, you need to help me out here, what do I do next?'"

He went onto add that while he did hit rock bottom, he has been able to see the positive side and take good things from the experience.

He said: "Good things came out of those money troubles, it made me much more focused and more determined to succeed. You know this album and my solo career has to work, this isn't just about releasing an album, I want to be doing this, being an artist, for the next 20 years."

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Watch footage of Filan in the studio here: