STOP ALL THE CLOCKS: After 13 long, long years, ten studio albums, one Greatest Hits compilation (so far) and a lost member, stool-bothering manband Westlife have parted company with Simon Cowell.
Fear not, they're not giving up on music and have already 'inked a new deal' with Sony RCA.
Their manager and Simon's cherub-faced X Factor foil, Louis Walsh, is quoted by The Sun as saying "the move is a natural progression. There was no bad feeling."
As is the way with these things in 2011, members of the band took to Twitter to add their sixpence. Nicky tweeted, interestingly, "it is time for a change" while Mark added, somewhat disingenuously, "we are still very young & have lots of energy left".