Westlife’s Shane Filan returns to the Ipswich Regent next year.

The second leg of his Love Always tour heads this way on May 7. Tickets go on sale from 9am this Friday via the theatre and www.ticketmaster.co.uk.

Shane, who I last spoke to when he was in Ipswich in 2014, said: “I stood on the stage on the original leg of the Love Always Tour and promised I would return – and here I am. The whole tour went so well I thought I would love to take it back out.

“It was such fun and the fans have taken Love Always to their hearts. I want to get out and perform it for them, although I may be adding a few surprises into the mix to make this leg a little different – so watch out.”

The album, a collection of some of his favourite classic love songs, was one he’d wanted to make for a long time.

“For me, being able to perform this on stage is humbling. It reminds me of just how phenomenal it is to be a musician and how lucky I am to have such great fans.”

Westlife were one of the world’s most successful bands of the last few decades. They had 14 chart-topping singles and sold 44million records. Shane, who grew up inspired by Backstreet Boys and Michael Jackson, added their career fulfilled all of their dreams 1,000 times over.

Liz Doogan-Hobbs MBE, CEO of LHG Live, added: “Love Always was a brilliant tour to promote. It was lively, exciting and dynamic. Visually it was the most eye-catching tour Shane has done and we are thrilled to be working with Shane and his team once again on the second leg where he has the opportunity to deliver this energetic and contemporary concert once more. As ever we have to directly thank Shane’s fans who always support every date he plays. They really are the best.”