Nicky Byrne has revealed his plans to return to radio, two years after he stepped away from his own show.
The Irish singer presented The Nicky Byrne Show with Jenny Greene on RTÉ 2fm for five years, before quitting the show in 2019 ahead of Westlife’s reunion tour.
Speaking exclusively to Goss.ie at RTÉ’s new season launch, the 42-year-old shared his plans to return to radio in a few years time, after completing a series of gigs across the globe with his band.
Nicky said: “[Returning to radio] did cross my mind more than ever during lockdown. It was the longest time I’d ever been away from doing anything workwise.”
“Although I loved the time we all had with family and stuff, I think there comes a time in your life where you think: ‘If this is the new normal forever, then I need to look at how I work.’ I really wanted to get stuck into something.”
“When I left 2FM, I was brokenhearted but it was for the right reasons. It was five years, the Westlife reunion was imminent and that was going to take me around the world for a long time – and it did for the guts of a year.”
“Then we were supposed to do the second leg of the tour, which Covid obviously put a stop to, but that second leg still has to be done when the time is right.”
“There’s a new album coming, we’ve loads of gigs to be done… We’re looking at minimum 70 shows when the world is open, which will take the guts of a year to do again on and off,” the Dublin native explained.
“So, radio I do want to get back to, but it won’t be this year or next year. There was a time during lockdown when I thought, ‘will I just call somebody I know in RTÉ and see if they’re stuck for a weekend?’ But I’m not sure that would’ve been right either.”
“What I loved about radio was the consistency of it all and the liveness of it all. Yes you can go in and do a show here and a show there, but I don’t think you’re going to reinvent the wheel or create something new.”
“I think when I go back to radio, it’ll be for a minimum of two or three years to really make a stab at it again and do it right.”
Nicky added: “By then I don’t know what age I’ll be, so I don’t know where I’ll suit! 2FM is getting younger and younger, so maybe I’ll have to look to Radio 1.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be doing any of the political shows any time soon, I’m not sure that’s my bag!” he laughed.
Speaking about Westlife’s upcoming album, Nicky said: “We’re very excited. We’ve got some great songs, we’ve worked with some great producers, I think fans will be pleasantly surprised.”
“Like I always say, if you’re a Westlife fan you’ll love it and if you’re not, you’ll love to hate it so you’ll love it even more!”
