Will Westlife be back?

by Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo THROUGHOUT their career Westlife have fought off rumours that they may be splitting and it’s no different this time around.After a decade in the studio and on the road the boys have announced they will be taking a year off when their current Back Home Tour finishes.That has led to speculation in the tabloid press that the band is calling it a day, something they have denied, although not all their fans are convinced.“I know they are a bit older now and they are more of man band than a boy band but I still don’t want them to break up,” said Joyce Ballantyne, a Westlife fan from Ely, Cardiff.But if I was a betting man I would put my money on this massively successful act returning in the summer of 2009 with a new album and tour.Why? Well, call me an old cynic, but the fact is that Westlife were formerly managed by Ronan Keating, who has just reunited his old act Boyzone for a tour that begins in Belfast on May 28.That’s three days before Westlife end their UK tour and relinquish their stranglehold on the boy band market, which leaves their mate and ex-manager a free run at the space they leave.Boyzone play at Cardiff International Arena on May 29 and June 6-8.Call CIA on 029 2022 4488 to book.