Gary Barlow: ‘I ate so much food you couldn’t recognise me’

X Factor judge and singer Gary Barlow has opened up about the depression he suffered when Take That split up which led his weight to creep up to 17 stone.

GaryBarlow

by Closer staff |
Published on

'I ate so much food and you couldn’t recognise me and that was what I wanted'

Speaking of the difficult period he faced in the late nineties, Gary confessed that he ate until he was unrecognisable.

‘I look back now and I think, “Wow, the lengths I took not to be me”, he said.

‘You know, I ate so much food and you couldn’t recognise me and that was what I wanted.

‘It was horrible, actually, to look back, and very sad,’ he added.

The 42 year-old admitted it was difficult getting his career back on track after the band parted ways, especially as ex band mate Robbie Williams’ solo career was going from strength to strength.

Gary with Take That in their heyday
Gary with Take That in their heyday

'And there was the pressure of Robbie being a bigger star in the UK'

He said: At that point, the only thing I wanted was to be in music, and the only thing everyone else wanted was me not to be in music.

‘It was like, ‘F***, who am I then? Because music was me. I can’t do anything else! I’m 25, I’ve barely started and it’s ended,

‘And there was the pressure of Robbie being a bigger star in the UK. I couldn’t find the music. There was that much s*** in the way of the door I couldn’t get through it.’

The dad-of-three’s admission comes as he is due to release his new solo material after overcoming his past demons.

He said: 'I’ve got to do this record. I can’t go all through my life and never do something by myself again.‘

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