Take That frontman Gary Barlow opens up on Ant’s woes, Cliff Richard – and the Queen
Gary shares how he constantly worries about Ant McPartlin after his arrest in the same way he worries about Robbie Williams' mental health
GARY Barlow is such pop royalty he even knows who tops the Queen’s CD collection.
The Take That frontman has revealed for the first time the identity of Her Majesty’s favourite musical performer — Sir Cliff Richard.
In the latest edition of The Dan Wootton Interview, which you can subscribe to now on iTunes, Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast provider, Gary explains how he was handed the daunting task of persuading the veteran singer to perform at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, which he organised.
Gary said: “I had to ask the Queen what she’d like this concert to be and the only act she asked for was Cliff Richard.
“So I met him on that. I don’t remember telling him that it was her request. He came and did it and he was so gracious — absolutely brilliant.”
Gary then revealed that years later he made Cliff bawl his eyes out when he told him he was the Queen’s No1 pick.
He explains: “We were on holiday in Barbados and I thought, ‘I’m sure Cliff Richard lives here’. So I phoned a friend of a friend and they said, ‘Come and have dinner’.
“I said to Cliff, ‘I must tell you something that I’ve never told you before’. I told him about the Queen and he actually had tears in his eyes.”
Gary added that another interesting part of their meeting in the Caribbean was what Cliff ate — which wasn’t a lot.
He said: “I was watching Cliff like a hawk while he ate his dinner and thought, ‘This guy has been in shape all his life and he eats like a bird’.”
Given Gary’s much-publicised battle with his weight during his stellar career, it’s little wonder he was so infatuated with how a fellow music giant stays so slim.
It’s a war Gary has firmly overcome, having topped the scales at 17st 2lb during part of his career. He's shifted five stone to be at his current weight.
And now he’s about to pass on his lifestyle secrets by launching his Barlow’s Bootcamps, which he’s doing free on social media rather than making a fitness DVD. He admits he has become “obsessed” with healthy eating.
Gary said: “My business is music. I wanted to tour, I want to make records — I love that.
"And I get paid for that very nicely. I don’t need to make money off telling people how I’ve lost weight. I can do that through Instagram, because people shouldn’t be charged for that.
“People should be able to click on there and learn the odd tip. My tips come from various people. I’ve picked them up over the years and I use them to help me.
“But it’s not a diet — it definitely isn’t.”
Gary’s main advice is cooking your own food, reducing sugar intake and controlling portion size.
And he says people who blame their “busy lives” have no excuse not to get into the kitchen and knock up some meals.
After all, he manages to do it while juggling several major projects at a time.
He explains: “When you look at someone filling a trolley full of ready-made meals, I’d say get rid of that and try and cook for yourself.
“I’m a busy, busy guy with lots of responsibility but I cook every day for me and my wife.
“If I can’t cook on a Monday I cook more on a Sunday so I’ve got food for Monday. It’s about taking control. Rather than blaming, ‘Why am I fat? What are you doing to me Marks & Spencer — I eat your food all day’, you be in control of it.”
Gary admits he does fall off the wagon occasionally, with wine his biggest vice, having a drink every night on tour.
But there’s certainly no danger of him returning to his binge-eating days when his music career stalled so badly following the release of his debut solo album that he tried his hand at acting, with a part on TV’s on Heartbeat.
However, Gary reveals he still profits from his short stint in the ITV drama series in 2000.
He said: “When they repeat Heartbeat you get a cheque because you’ve acted in it. I thought, ‘I’m going to put this one in a frame because the cheque was for . . 92p.”
Every penny counts.
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Troubled Ant so like our Robbie
GARY is concerned for his troubled pal Ant McPartlin following his drink-drive arrest this week.
The pair have known each other for years through the showbiz circuit and the singer says Ant’s plight, and the outpouring of support he has received, draws inevitable parallels to Gary’s Take That bandmate Robbie Williams.
Gary said: “I don’t really know what happened. It’s the same as Rob, everyone just wants the best for him.
“It could have been a lot worse than it was, thank God no one got seriously hurt. I just want him to get better, because we’ve all grown up seeing those guys on telly, they’re a TV fixture.
“Every few months I love to watch them, they’re incredibly funny. I send the best to him.”
Gary admits he knew all about Robbie’s mental heath issues before the Angels singer documented them in recent interviews and his tell-all book.
And he insists he will always feel naturally protective of Robbie given he is the “baby” of Take That.
Gary added: “We knew before he’d sort of come out and told the world about it, and you know, it is a bit of a thing with Rob.
“He loses his way a bit and it really goes to show how haunted he is by that side of his life.
“All of us worry about him constantly.
“He’s still the baby of the band to us. He was 15 when he joined Take That, just about to be 16.
“We do worry about him and talk about it and try and see him as often as we can.”
That’s good to hear.
gazbit
TAKE That will rework their classics for a Greatest Hits album which they will tour after its release later this year.
Gary said: “Fans who have been with us for years will think, ‘This is the song I love, but it sounds like it’s been refreshed’.”
Weinstein's a shocker
THE Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal that has rocked Hollywood left Gary in shock.
He created the soundtrack to the disgraced movie mogul’s Broadway musical Finding Neverland.
Gary told me: “I didn’t spend any time socially with him, just for work, and I didn’t see or hear of anything that went on like that.”
He added that the one positive to come out of the scandal is women coming together in the form of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.
Gary, who has one son and two daughters, said: “Everything that’s being done and the whole movement, I’m right behind it.
"It’s a better future for my girls. So on that side of it I see it as a positive thing.”
gazbit
GARY told how he got a ticking-off from wife Dawn after he spoke about renewing their wedding vows – without asking her first.
He said: “She wasn’t that happy about that. I’d love to do it. We’re 19 years I think, married. Maybe for the 20.”
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bizmeter: five
Five songs that are important to Gary . . .
- ELTON John, Your Song: 1971, the year I was born. This really led me to playing the piano. When I heard it I couldn’t work out what was making this amazing noise but I knew I had to make music like this. I’m still trying to make music like this, unfortunately.
- BILLY Joel, She’s Always A Woman: Listening to this, I wrote A Million Love Songs – it’s very similar in style. But Billy is a master of lyrics and music. This is an absolute classic. I sang it on an X Factor final, I’ve always been looking for an oppor tunity to sing it.
- PETER Garbie (featuring Kate Bush), Don’t Give Up: In the Nineties I got a call in the car to say the record company was ceasing my contract. It felt like the end of the world. Then on the radio came this song. It was like the radio was talking to me. I had to pull over the car, and I listened to it this song. It made me feel better.
- THE Beatles, Yesterday: So beautiful, so relaxing. It speaks to you in such a common language but you can also see, under the surface, it has an awful lot of meaning. Pop perfection. I know people have tried to do what that song does and failed miserably.
- RICK Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up: I was 17 and singing in the working men’s clubs up North. Rick did the clubs too so I saw this guy and thought there was hope for me. So when I saw him on Top Of The Pops I started to go to London every month to record companies and anyone who was in A&R. I used to give them a cassette tape.
The band
TAKE That’s musical The Band kicks off in the West End this Christmas.
But fans who have missed out on its first tour will still get their fix after its 50-show run as Gary plans to take it on the road again.
Gary, also behind Calendar Girls The Musical, said: “I think Blood Brothers only lasted for nine weeks in the West End then they decided, three years later, ‘Let’s tour it’.
Then it came back to the West End and stayed for 20 years.
“That’s my plan, really, for Calendar Girls and hopefully The Band.”