Exhausted Bryan rejoins Westlife

Bryan McFadden has recovered from a bout of exhaustion

Westlife star Bryan McFadden is back with the rest of the group in America after recovering from a bout of exhaustion that saw him fly back to Ireland.

A spokeswoman for the band's record company, RCA, confirmed the 20-year-old singer had been taken ill last week and may have suffered a recurrence of glandular fever.

She told BBC News Online he went back to Dublin to spend a few days with his family, before rejoining the band on Sunday.

Westlife are in the middle of a gruelling month-long tour of the US to plug their debut single Swear It Again.

Prior to that they spent weeks playing concerts in America, South America and Europe.

Bryan collapsed after a performance for a New York radio station and was so weak he had to be put in a wheelchair.

Run down

The band's spokeswoman said: "Bryan was feeling exhausted. He and the band had a very hectic schedule - in three weeks they did 105 hours of flying and were getting up early in the mornings.

Bryan (second right) launches poppy appeal with the rest of Westlife

"He had glandular fever a year ago, which is a recurring illness. When your body is feeling run down, you are more susceptible to getting it again and it can lay you flat out for weeks."

In the event, Bryan was away for four days with his family, leaving his bandmates in Oklahoma and rejoining them in Boston.

He told The Sun newspaper: "I wanted to be with mum and dad, not lying in a hotel room. So they put me on the first flight to Dublin.

"We haven't had a day off since Christmas and I spend most of the time travelling. I'm not moaning, because I know how lucky I am."

The spokeswoman added: "The rest of the guys were totally cool about Bryan taking the time off and he is happy to be back with them."

Westlife made history earlier this year when Fool Again became their fifth successive single to go straight in at number one in the UK charts.

Swear it again is currently number 44 in the US Billboard charts.