LOVEABLE Louis Walsh – the darling of the X-Factor judging panel – was a ruthless taskmaster in the early days of their career, the members of Westlife have revealed.

Walsh, who also managed Boyzone, was very critical of the group at a time remembered by lead singer Shane Filan as "fecking horrendous''.

"Louis was always on at you. The first thing he'd say when I walked in the room was: 'Your teeth are fecking terrible.' What did he want me to do? They were my teeth. I remember saying once: 'Your teeth are fecking horrible, too.' He said: 'I know, but I'm not on TV.' I went and got a brace."

Fellow band member Kian Egan, who now co-manages the group Wonderland with Walsh, said: "We lived in fear of Louis. He was like: 'You're done. I'm going to kick you out of the band. Only four people can fit in a taxi, not five.'"

They recalled how, when they first met Walsh in their home town of Sligo, he dropped one of their friends from the line-up, and it fell to Filan to break the bad news. "It was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to tell somebody. It was like I was saying: 'We can't be friends any more because I'm going off to do this band and you're not invited.'"

Walsh went on to drop two further members of the original line-up, keeping Mark Feehily and adding Dubliners Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden, who later left to pursue a solo career. Of the boys left out, Egan said: "They're all upset. You're driving around in Bentleys and Ferraris, living in a castle at the top of the hill and he's working in a pub."

Girlfriends had to be hidden in the early days to exploit the group's heartthrob status, except for Byrne, who was dating former taoiseach Bertie Ahern's daughter Georgina, later to become his wife. Walsh regarded that as a good PR move.

The group are now taking some satisfaction from seeing Simon Cowell manage Walsh on The X-Factor.

"Simon's now doing to him what he did to us, so he's gone and got everything done. His hair's browner, his teeth are whiter and he seems to be using moisturiser a bit more too," said Filan.