BRIAN McFadden has buried the hatchet with his former Westlife bandmates.
The band, who are currently recording their new album in Los Angeles, met up with the solo singer for dinner earlier this week -- and there wasn't an ounce of tension in sight.
Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne and Shane Filan dined with the outspoken singer at Hollywood's exclusive Nobu restaurant, an essential haunt for local and visiting celebrities
And there was no insult swapping as they dined at the plush eatery, owned by Eva Longoria.
Brian was so excited at the reunion that he posted a picture of himself with Kian, Mark and Mark's boyfriend Kevin Fielding, accompanied with the tag: "My new boyband. Looking for a fifth member".
McFadden unexpectedly left the band in 2004 in a bid to embark on a solo career, and his former bandmates have made it perfectly clear that he is no longer welcome to sing with them -- but he is still one of the lads.
Kian quashed any suggestion that he would be welcomed with open arms again -- when he said that they would "never" take him back two years ago.
"He left the group and you can't expect us to take him back," he said. "I told him: 'You're never going to be in Westlife again. Accept it'!"
And just last month, McFadden echoed their statement, saying he would not want to rejoin the band because he would be little more than a "backing singer".
"I see the guys a lot, we speak on the phone and stuff. We've talked about it, but we're so different now from what we were then.
"I was even looking at the way Robbie's going back to Take That. When they do a gig, Robbie doesn't sing anything, he's just going to be a backing singer with Take That.
"I was like 'I wouldn't want to do that now' because they've made singles and albums," he said.
But the war or words has finally ended and both parties have put the past behind them for a catch up.
As McFadden attempts to crack the notoriously difficult US market, the foursome are living it up in LA, where they are staying for the next week as they lay down tracks for their next album.
And Brian's desire to break the US might not be as impossible as previously thought -- he recently bragged on his Twitter account about mingling with hitmaker Kevin Rudolf, who has worked with Lil Wayne, Flo Rida and Black Eyed Peas, at an LA club. The pair recently worked together on McFadden's latest single, Just Say So.
- Caitlin McBride
