After nearly eight years together, six albums and 13 number one singles, no one - not even the band - could have predicted Westlife's extraordinary Indian summer.

Even by the group's own standards, it has been an amazing time to be Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily or Kian Egan.

Westlife's number looked to be up following Brian McFadden's departure, yet unlike Take That, Spice Girls and Boyzone before them, losing a member has strengthened their grip on the charts.

Face to Face, their latest album, went straight to number one last October and spawned a number one single, You Raise Me Up, and a critically acclaimed duet with Diana Ross, When You Tell Me That You Love Me, which reached number two.

A successful two-month arena tour of the UK followed in the spring and the Irish four-piece have spent the summer winding their way around the English countryside playing in country parks and festivals.

Marble Hill Hall will welcome them later this month as part of the Twickenham estate's summer festival, which begins on Saturday, August 12, with Jools Holland.

Despite the group's success, Nicky is just grateful to have an audience to play to.

"As Face to Face was the first pop record we'd done since Brian left, we knew it was a make or break album," said Nicky.

"If it didn't do it, we would have had to talk about what to do next but, luckily, those conversations didn't even need to be had.

"Every other band that has lost a member has disappeared afterwards so the fact it's worked out for us makes us very happy."

Kian agrees: "It was satisfying for us to prove everyone wrong, everyone who was always telling us it would never happen."

After getting such an overwhelming vote of confidence from their fans, the band set to work rehearsing for their tour and feel confident they have something special in store for their fans in Twickenham.

"I think it's quite different from what we've done before," Kian explains.

"The past couple of tours have had a similar sort of structure and we knew we wanted to change that and give people something new. We think we've done that.

"I think it will be slick, contemporary and a bit more sophisticated - we just hope the fans enjoy it."

  • Westlife, Marble Hill Hall, Twickenham, Saturday, August 26, £35. Other concerts include Jools Holland, Saturday, August 12, £27, A Tribute to Dirty Dancing, Saturday, August 19, £26, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's Last Night of the Proms, Sunday, August 27, £22.50. Concessions on all shows. Doors 5.30pm, show 7.30pm. Visit picnicconcerts.com or call 0870 333 6206.