Monday, October 6, 2014 3:23am ET by  
Comments (0)

, , , , , , , , , ,

Shane Filan on financial ruin: 'I was worse than destitute'

Shane Filan has opened up on the financial troubles which eventually made him bankrupt.

The Irish singer fell into severe money problems in 2012 after a property company he started with his brother owed £18million when the global financial scene crumbled into disrepair.

This meant that Filan was declared bankrupt - despite playing in front of 80,000 people with Westlife a few days earlier.

The singer told the Mirror: "In reality I was worse than destitute – heading for skid row. For the previous five years I’d been leading a double life. I’d started a property company with my brother Finbarr when Ireland was booming. But we’d got in way over our heads just as the global economy was crashing.

"We owed £18million and that day the banks had demanded all the money back. So there I was counting out the loose change that I jokingly called the ‘rainy day’ pot. Well, it was raining very hard in Sligo that night, I can tell you. It came to €1,400, enough to see us through the next few days. But after that...?

Speaking about being declared bankrupt, Filan added:

“I just broke down and sobbed when I heard. My world was crumbling around me. My three small children – Nicole, Patrick and Shane Jnr – were upstairs in bed thinking everything was grand because Daddy was a pop star. It was the most horrendous time of my life. I was wallowing in despair and could have gone under if not for Gillian. She saved my sanity and she saved us."

In 2013 Filan released his first solo album 'You and Me', which reached No.6 in the UK chart.

Follow us: @Pressparty on Twitter Pressparty on Facebook.

Watch Shane Filan in action below: