Former Westlife star, Shane Filan has opened up about the “dark days” he endured in his new autobiography My Side of Life.

Shane, who suffered well-known money issues spoke about just how bad things got in an extract published in the Mirror: “For the previous five years I’d been leading a double life. 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. I just broke down and sobbed when I heard.”

The singer says the difference between his life in Westlife and now is stark, as money isn’t as secure as it once was: “Westlife made a huge amount of money. I usually got a seven-figure sum every year. Now I don’t know if I will be okay next year – and it’s a bit scary.”

Shane, who is a dad to three children with his wife Gillian, spoke about the heartache of his children not knowing: “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.”

However, the Westlife star, who released an album this time last year, said that Gillian saved him from losing hope: “I was wallowing in despair and could have gone under if not for Gillian. She saved my sanity and she saved us.”

Shane’s dream home in Sligo was valued at for €10million during the Celtic Tiger and sold just recently for €800,000.

He has just recently wrapped up the Asia leg of his You and Me tour.