Gary Barlow stops by for his last interview before he tackles the Tanzanian mountain of Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief with his fellow celeb climbers

Well, just days to go before you fly out to Tanzania! How are you feeling?

This week's been so enjoyable because we've all stopped training now so I've just been lying around, which has been lovely. We've just got one video to do this week with the Take That boys and that's my last thing before we go.

Have you tried to rope in Mark, Howard and Jason at the last minute?

I've got no chance! I tried that! They were the first ones I asked and they thought I was crazy!

Why did you choose Mount Kilimanjaro?

I've had some friends who've climbed it, and I have to say it's actually a walk rather than a climb, and I thought 'that sounds good because I'm no good at climbing but I am good at walking'. I've wanted to do something for Comic Relief since I did a trip for them a couple of years ago. I think anyone who does those trips brings something back with them and I thought, 'you know what, it'd be great to get a big group of people together and climb Kilimanjaro' and all of a sudden here we are and we're going on Friday!

Is there any particular part of the walk that you're fearing the most?

The end bit is definitely going to be the hardest. The tropical climate and the lush scenery will be well behind us and the last four days we'll be in no-man's-land where nothing grows, which might be quite depressing. At that point we'll hopefully be entertaining each other! And then we start getting cold and getting to 'summit day'.

Are you taking any music with you to keep you going?

I've actually just bought the whole back catalogue of Elton John. I know a lot of his singles but not so much his early albums and his first one came out the year I was born so I'm going right back to the beginning with his first three albums - they should keep me going!

We particularly enjoyed Richard Arnold's suggestion of you guys recording a cover of Abba's 'Fernando' at the summit!

Either that or 'We are the World'! Let's see how feel when we get there!

The whole aim of the expedition is to raise money to buy mosquito nets for Tanzanian children as one child dies every 30 seconds from malaria after been bitten by mosquitoes. What first made you passionate about the cause?

Well Richard Curtis got us all thinking about it when we went to sit with him and talk about the climb. We said we wanted a real focus rather than just to do the climb without aiming for anything specifically. He said we were going to be in a zone rife with malaria. He said children there aren't scared of lions or elephants but it's the tiny mosquitoes that are the biggest killers. The statistics are horrific. But malaria is actually coming to the end of its life. They say that by 2012 they can get rid of it from the planet completely, so it means we're close but any help we can give might make a huge difference.

And we hear that you're keen to share a tent with our Ben after seeing him in looking rather buff in the gym!

I'm not keen AT ALL to share a tent with Ben! It's him who wants to share one with me! He's switched that around! To be honest, I really want to sleep on my own. I love everyone's company but when it comes to bedtime I'll be ready to just set my tent up and read my book.

A few of the girls are sharing aren't they?

Yeah, Alesha, Cheryl and Kimberley are sharing and Fearne and Denise are sharing. But that's girls for you, isn't it?! They can't even go to the toilet on their own!

And what would you say to people who are thinking of sponsoring you?

Please just donate as much as you can. Even a fiver would be fantastic! A fiver buys a net so you can pledge five pounds and feel great all day knowing you've saved someone's life.

And on to Take That! Everyone's loving the new single and it's a firm favourite from the album.

Well that's strange because I don't sing that one! Can you leave now?! Just kidding, it's a real fun one. But my favourite track is The Garden, the first one on the album.

Ooh, another very, very popular one, of course!

Well, you've nearly redeemed yourself!

Good luck with the climb!

Interview by Emma Lazenby

http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=33427