Westlife thanked their fans being like the fourth member of the band on Saturday night as they performed as a trio for the second night in succession in Newcastle.
The band arrives on Tyneside as a four on Friday night but, after being rather late on stage at the Utilita Arena, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan weren't joined by Mark, with him putting out a statement on Instagram right before the show was due to start.
The singer wrote: ""I'm so sorry to tell you I won't be able to join the boys on stage tonight in Newcastle.
"I felt really feverish last night after the Manchester gig, then the same again this morning but a whole lot worse - been with the doctor and he says there's no way in the world I should do the show tonight."
He added: "So after speaking to the lads we decided the show will go ahead, please, for me, have the time of your life. I wish my 3 brothers the best gig ever and I'll be there in spirit, before ending the post: "I'll be back in action rocking it out to Beyonce ASAP."
Westlife posted an update to fans on Saturday, confirming that "under strict doctor's orders," Mark was still unable to perform so it was as a trio that the packed arena saw the band again later that evening. Westlife kicked off their Wild Dreams show with Starlight, Uptown Girl and When You're Looking Like That and it was after those three songs that Shane addressed Mark not being there.
He told the captive audience: "As you can see, there is somebody missing on stage tonight unfortunately Mark is actually quite sick at the moment. He's OK, but he's sick and he can't be on stage with us tonight. But tonight, we're going to give him the best show and we want to show him how much Newcastle love Westlife tonight."
The Westlfe song mark is most famous for is Flying Without Wings and, when that arrived on the setlist, Shane, Nicky and Kian handed it over to their fans to belt out the track with great success.
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