Westlife’s Mark Feehily has come out of the closet and revealed he’s gay and very proud of his sexuality.

"I want people to know the truth about my sexuality. I am gay and I'm very proud of who I am,” the Irish singer told The Sun, speaking publicly about his homosexuality for the first time. " I'm not asking for sympathy or to be a role model for anyone else. I simply felt it was the right time for me to let people know the truth."

“I've never tried to hide who I am from anyone, but I'm a very private person and in the past I haven't felt the need to say anything about my sexuality."

“But I want people to know I'm very comfortable with who I am."

The 25-year-old went on to say that his Westlife band mates have always known about his sexuality and had all “been there for me when I needed to talk things through."

“My close friends and family – the people I love – have been incredibly supportive to me and that’s what really matters,” he said.

"I'm not worried about how people react because I'm happy being who I am."

Mark also said that the rest of the band are all in relationships and it was time to speak about his own, to 21-year-old Kevin McDaid who used to be in boyband V.

"I would like to say that I'm happy, and that I've found someone who is a real companion," he told the paper.  "It does get lonely being on the road with the band sometimes and I'm very happy now I'm in a relationship with someone who makes me laugh."

Westlife has sold more than twelve million albums worldwide, scored a total of 14 successive Top 5 UK singles, including 11 Number One hits, and have made it into the record books for achieving the most consecutive Number One hit singles in pop history.  The band finish a 56-date European tour this weekend.

Kevin McDaid - Mark's boyfriend