Louis "Nicky Won't Win SCD"

Louis told me: you won’t win ...but at least you’ll be able to dance for the reunion

Nicky Byrne says Westlife boss is harsher than TV judges

Byrne-ing ambition ... Westlife star Nicky Byrne

BBC

NICKY BYRNE has pulled out all the stops to impress the Strictly Come Dancing judges with his ballroom progress.

But the Westlife singer reckons he has a lot more work to do before winning over his toughest critic — long-term manager Louis Walsh.

Nicky revealed how X Factor judge Louis rubbished his chances of lifting the glitterball trophy — and is backing Louis Smith instead.

He said: “Louis asked me, ‘Do you think you’ll win it?’

“I said, ‘Well, you see... ’ and he said, ‘No, you won’t. Louis Smith will win it’.

“I was like, ‘Cheers, Louis’. But that’s just him. He said to me afterwards, ‘Listen, well done. The positive is you’ll be able to dance when we do our reunion’. ”

Best life ... but Westlife split after 14 years together

Nicky continued: “He is obviously convinced we are going to do a reunion.

“And then he said to me, ‘Genuinely, I know how hard you need to work with Strictly, so the best of luck with it and hope it goes well’.

“We will hopefully hook up on one of the Saturdays. I’d love him to come down but I don’t think ITV will let him.”

Pop giants Westlife — one of the most successful boy bands of all time — split up in June after 14 years at the top of the charts.

Their record-breaking career saw Nicky, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan sell some 44million records.

Byrne baby Byrne ... Nicky Byrne in action with Karen Hauer

BBC

Looking back, Nicky revealed how, behind the scenes, the band’s success was tainted by heated rows over the direction they were taking.

But he insisted the Irish foursome remain good pals — and refused to rule out that reunion.

He said: “There are no plans. I’d like to say, hopefully, one day you can revisit that but I think we all needed a breather.”

Rival ... Louis Smith

BBC

Nicky said life in the band “was becoming too repetitive”.

He explained: “Westlife was so great in the great times.

“But the older we got, the more we had different ideas of what we wanted to do. It became harder to deliver.

“So it got to the point where the only enjoyable times were when we were on stage.” It clearly wasn’t an easy decision for Nicky.

He said: “At the time I was one of the ones saying, ‘Can’t we iron these things out?’ But in hindsight it was the best decision we ever made.

“It was getting to us all. We needed to look at what we were doing from a distance and say, ‘We’re f*****g killing this. We need to move on’. ”

Nicky went on: “The beauty of it was that the four of us were always good mates. We could have a row in a dressing room, go out on stage, give the performance of our lives and end up in a bar until 2am. We sat down like adults and decided to knock it on the head. But maybe one day, when some things are out of our systems, we can revisit it.”

For now, Nicky has his hands full with Strictly and dance partner, Venezuelan champion Karen Hauer.

The pair wowed the audience last night with a romantic rumba performed to Aerosmith’s ballad Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.

But Nicky, who is married to Georgina Ahern — the daughter of former Irish Taoiseach Bertie — says there is no chance of him being led astray.

He said: “Georgina is very supportive and wants me to do my best. I don’t think I’d be here if dancing with Karen was an issue.

Boss ... Louis Walsh

“We’ve all got jobs to do and everyone is very professional. I’ve heard people have got together in the past but, no disrespect to Karen, it’s not for me.

“I don’t even feel sexy when I dance because I’m too busy counting. I could be dancing with anyone and all I’d be thinking is ‘1,2,3,4’. ”

He might not feel sexy but Nicky admits he’s had help after bosses ordered him to ditch his “Irish tan”.

He laughed: “I knew about the spray tans going into Strictly but had never had one before.

“I didn’t get it on week one, and week two I tried to get out of it again but they said, ‘No, it’s come from upstairs. You looked too pasty last week’.

“Then, of course, because I was the person who least wanted it, Michael Vaughan went on Twitter and wrote that I had been fake-baked.” Nicky is determined to shine in the show but he insists he has a long way to go to challenge for the glitterball trophy.

He said: “I am very competitive and I want to do well but this is definitely the biggest challenge I have ever taken on.

“It’s not that I think I can’t win but I’m up against brilliant people. Denise van Outen is great and Kimberley Walsh is fantastic.

“Louis Smith is also really good and one of the favourites. There are at least five people above me at the moment.

“But who knows with this show. Anything can happen.”

- STRICTLY ace Louis Smith missed out on vital rehearsals for last night’s show after coming down with a bug.

The Olympic gymnast took to Twitter to vent his frustration, groaning: “I hate being sick.”

He’s not the first to be hit by the lurgy. Last week pro dancer Erin Boag went down with it and It Takes Two host Zoe Ball also had a bout of illness.

Louis, who is partnered by Flavia Cacace, is one of the hot favourites to win.

SOURCE : Here :)