Howard Donald has no plans to become a solo artist. The Take That singer said he knows he could never compete with the success of the band. He told 'New!' magazine: "When the band split last time, I did record a solo album, but it's not really my vibe. Could my solo work compete with us as a band? I don't think so." Howard recently admitted he would find it difficult to cope if Take That were to split at the end of their sold-out UK stadium tour, which finished on Sunday night. But lead singer Gary Barlow revealed the group have no plans to quit and are focused on cracking the lucrative US market.

http://www.bild.de/BILD....ns.html

NOW their cracking tour is done and dusted, the TAKE THAT boys can take some well-earned time out to pursue their other hobbies.

HOWARD DONALD is using his downtime to return to his first love — DJing.

But when you are one quarter of the country’s biggest manband, these things are never that simple.

The singer will play a set at legendary Birmingham superclub Gatecrasher on August 8.

But bosses at the 3,000-capacity club are so worried about Howard being mobbed by female fans in his DJ box that they are tripling their security.

DJ Donald follows in the footsteps of LILY ALLEN, BLOC PARTY and LOSTPROPHETS who have all spun tracks at the Brummie nightspot.

But don’t expect to see him touring your local clubs any time soon.

This is a rare appearance. He said: “It would have been easy to cash in on the Take That thing and tour all the commercial clubs, but that would go against everything I stand for.

“Music is my life, I love nothing more than playing house music to an appreciative crowd.

“To sell yourself out for commercial value as a DJ simply makes you look cheap and definitely shortens your shelf life”

And a Take That star should know better than anyone how to lengthen your shelf life...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol....MC-Bltn

Howard Donald has been signed up to perform an exclusive DJ set at Gatecrasher Birmingham on August 8.

The Take That star will follow in the footsteps of Lily Allen, Bloc Party and Lost Prophets by playing a set at the £5 million hyper-club.

Bosses have reportedly tripled security for the event, which is is expected to draw 3,000 revellers.

Speaking about his decision to play the venue, Donald said: "It would have been very easy for me to cash in on the whole Take That thing and tour all the commercial clubs but that would go completely against everything I stand for.

"Music is my life, I love nothing more than playing house music to an appreciative crowd and people that love music the same way I do. To sell yourself out for commercial value as a DJ simply makes you look cheap and definitely shortens your shelf life."

A Gatecrasher spokesperson added: "We're really pleased to have secured Howard for the club.

"Although a lot of his pop fans might not realise this, Howard has become a really credible DJ over the past few years, he has a really underground sound based on Chicago House which is perfect for Gatecrasher. Howard's unique and cutting edge style blend of sexy, funky, vocal house really rocks the dance floor."

Tickets are available now for the event, which is part of Gatecrasher's Ibiza season.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music....et.html

He'll take to the decks when he heads up to the low-budget holiday camp in Skegness to perform at the Big Reunion festival on December 5.

A source said: "He sadly won't be staying at Butlins but we're very happy to have him perform."

DIZZEE RASCAL also signed up in August.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol....ss.html

TAKE THAT star HOWARD DONALD has infuriated his London neighbours with plans to dig a basement extension for his luxury home.
The British singer owns a $5.4 million (£3.4 million) townhouse in the city's exclusive Kensington district and was recently granted permission to create an underground room, a rear extension and a roof terrace.
But the plans have upset other residents, who have now reportedly lodged formal objections with the local authority.
One neighbour, Elizabeth Foxon, tells London's Evening Standard newspaper, "A similar large basement development is already taking place, causing a great deal of noise, heavy vehicle traffic and general disruption to the area.”

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.ns....1126606

Mr Donald was granted permission to excavate more than three metres beneath his Ј3.4 million four-storey home to create a subterranean room, and to add a conventional rear extension and roof terrace, but a string of neighbours have formally objected to the scheme.

Elizabeth Foxon, who lives nearby, said: “A similar large basement development is already taking place, causing a great deal of noise, heavy vehicle traffic and general disruption to the area.”

Mr Donald could not be reached for comment last night.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz....e-it.do

TAKE That star Howard Donald yesterday said he hopes The Sun's Helping Haiti single will make the ravaged country stronger than it was before the quake struck.

Howard, 41, said Haiti's suffering was particularly devastating because of its grinding poverty.

He added: "Hopefully after this charity effort the country will be built up better than it was before."

Howard and Take That pals Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Jason Orange, whose hits include Shine, recorded their contribution to the single on Tuesday.

Former member Robbie Williams added his vocal in LA yesterday - making it the first time the band have appeared together on a track since 1995.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol....er.html

Singer Howard Donald romped with 28-year-old Merith Van Onselen behind the back of the mother of his youngest daughter at the height of the group's comeback - after wooing her while high on cannabis.

Our new revelations emerge as shamed bandmate Mark Owen begins rehab for booze addiction after stunning fans by admitting cheating on wife Emma with ten different women.

Howard, 41, was in a relationship with Marie Christine Musswesseles and portraying himself as a doting dad to their little girl Lola while he was secretly bedding Merith at his London home.

Today Merith tells the News of the World how the star swept her off her feet in a dope-filled club in Berlin where he was working as a house DJ in July 2008.

"He made it clear that he fancied me. But he smoked a joint to get the Dutch courage to tell me," says the beauty.

"The first time I met him I told him I was married and he pulled a sad face and shrugged. I thought that was the end of it."

But determined Howard spent SIX MONTHS bombarding her with raunchy emails. He also sent her a picture of him smoking a cannabis spliff at a DJ gig in Berlin - where smoking dope is legal - with the message: "It's a horrible pic but I like the look of the joint!!"

Merith says: "He said cannabis gave him confidence and kept telling me he had been thinking about me all the time. We kept running into each other at different DJ nights. He would say I was beautiful and special.

"Then one day I gave in. It was the start of a passionate relationship. He has a very high sex drive. He wanted exciting sex and he sure got what he was looking for."

Kissed

While the Rule The World singer was chasing Merith, his unsuspecting girlfriend Marie, 32, was looking after Lola, now five, at their home in Berlin.

He offered Merith a shoulder to cry on over her troubled marriage to Dave Koevarmans, the father of her three-year-old son. And he told her HIS relationship with Marie was also failing as he desperately tried to bed her.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT TAKE THAT LOVE RATS? TELL US BELOW

Howard finally got Merith between the sheets in January last year at the £390-a-night Sheraton Hotel in Hanover. They kissed but stopped short of having full sex till a month later.

The star paid for Merith to visit him in London the following month. But days before she jetted out, he told her he was racked with GUILT about having an affair with a married woman.

And the devious singer - worried about being found out - warned her they had to take their relationship slowly as they both had partners.

Merith says: "He said to me he was worried about what I was telling my husband. He told me we shouldn't throw ourselves in too deep to start with and said, 'I hope your husband doesn't find out'."

After Howard picked her up from Heathrow in his Audi, he quickly whisked her back to his town house in West London for their first night of passion.

The singer immediately led her to his bedroom and slowly stripped her down to her lacy underwear. She says: "I think we were both frustrated after all the texts and emails. So even though we wanted to take it slowly, we just couldn't help ourselves.

"I'm glad I made sure I was wearing some sexy knickers because as soon as we got into his house he took off my clothes and slowly kissed me.

"The sex was very passionate and I think we both felt it was right. I didn't feel like we were rushing things." The pair spent three days making love in the star's home. Merith says: "Howard spoke a lot about feeling guilty about Marie. He was so confused and kept saying to me, 'Look at the big picture, you are married and I am still in a relationship'.

But when Merith returned to her family in The Hague he suddenly fogot about his guilt and bombarded her with emails begging her to return to London. She joked that she was sending him a dikke knuffel (that's Dutch for a big hug).

She says: "We were in contact every day and he would tell me that he missed me. We would talk about what we would do to each other when I visited again.

"Howard loved the Dutch phrase dikke knuffel. It means big hug so when he was feeling down I'd send it him it to cheer him up."

Just a week after her previous visit, she was back in Howard's arms in London. He even gave her a key to his plush townhouse.

Merith says: "There'd been a lot of arguing with my husband and I just wanted to get away from it all. Howard was just brilliant to me and I loved spending time with him. It was exciting. There was an urge there which I hadn't felt in years."

When she returned home she asked her childhood sweetheart Dave for a divorce after 10 years together. She told him who she was seeing. "He was very upset and he kept asking me why Howard? Why someone from Take That? But my marriage had not been working for a long time and I wanted a divorce."

Merith started to spend more and more time in London with the star and he juggled their romance with his performances to crowds of almost 80,000-a-night as part of the Take That Circus tour which saw him earn a cool £1 million.

He even introduced her to the rest of the band. "I met them all and they were all lovely to me. None of them appeared bothered that I was with Howard despite him already having a girlfriend," says Merith.

"And they must have all met Marie and know his daughter."

Nibble

When he was rehearsing for the sell out tour, he would hand Merith £300 lump sums so she could shop on upmarket Kensington High Street.

She says: "Even if he was really busy we would have breakfast and dinner together.

"Sometimes he would text me to say he had a free 15-minutes and to pop to Starbucks near his home to meet him.

"It wasn't just sex, it was much more than that. I was falling in love with him. It was hard not to." She adds: "We always laughed a lot about silly things. When I visited London one time he said he had left a gift in the fridge for me. It was chocolate covered Turkish delight. I loved it. But he had taken a nibble out of every one."

During their romance, Merith noticed that Howard steered clear of dope when he was in the UK to abide by the law. He caused a storm in 2007 by suggesting cannabis should be legalised here.

But he took full advantage whenever they were in Holland where it is legal to smoke in special cafes.

"We spent a lot of time in Amsterdam as Howard liked the carefree attitude to drugs there," she says. "But I couldn't understand why he liked it. I never smoked with him."

Gradually Howard seem to become more relaxed about his relationship with Merith. He started calling her his 'little princess' when she met his friends.

Then, in April, he introduced her to his older daughter Grace, 11, and her mother - his ex-girlfriend Victoria Piddington, 39 - on a trip to Bournemouth. He left Victoria for Marie in 2004 but they remained friends.

Merith says: "I got on well with really well with Victoria. Howard introduced me as his friend and she laughed and said, 'We all know that's not true'. We spent a lot of time in Bournemouth in the spring. At that point it was as if Marie wasn't in his life any more. He was introducing me to his friends and his family. He kept telling me I was special and I believed him."

But after the trip to Bournemouth their passion began to fade.

"He didn't seem as interested any more," she says. "When I asked what was going on between us, he said he was always holding back and never releasing himself 100 per cent because of both our situations.

"He said, 'I probably allowed you to get too close to me which gave me those nice feelings in my belly but what I really need to use is my head and not my heart.' It was so hard to hear."

They met in London for the final time last October. After that he stopped inviting her to London and failed to reply to her emails and text messages." Then he called me before Christmas to say he had split with Marie," says Merith. "He made it clear he wanted to talk to me as a friend. I have spoken to him a few times since.

"Howard was upset that he had to split his time between England and Germany to see his kids. He told me it would be even more difficult with me as well and I think that's probably why he stopped seeing me. His children were so important to him."

The star has always gone to great pains to promote a nice family man image for Take That Fans. He gave an interview to OK magazine that he wanted more children with Victoria before walking out on her. And he opened a concert for Children in Need with Take That.

Risked

Now Merith is trying to put her shattered life back together. Next month she will be forced to move out of her home after her divorce is finalised. She says: "Howard still has his life and family and friends. Nothing has really changed for him. But I risked a lot more."

Howard and the rest of Take That spent last week recording with Robbie Williams for the first time in 15 years. It was disrupted later in the week by Mark Owen's problems.

Merith says: "Mark's been a naughty boy but it doesn't surprise me at all. The only thing that shocked me was how many people he had been cheating with.

"All this just shows how certain members of the band are very different to how they appear to their fans."
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news....nd.html

Could it be (even more) tragic? Is Howard Donald the latest Take That star revealed as a serial shagger?

Sunday morning and we're saddened and shocked at reports that yet another popstar has been unable to keep it in his Calvins - and what's worse, it's ANOTHER member of Take That!

Yes, dearest readers, if the latest kiss and tell is to be believed, Howard Donald 'romped' with a Dutch lover (why does everything sound ruder when you put the word 'Dutch' in front of it?) while still with the mum of his five year old daughter.

Merith Van Onselen has flogged her side of the tale to a tawdry downmarket rag, so we're not sure whether we believe it or not.

After all, it's Howard! He of the lovely smile! The one we fancied 'cos we could see past the rubbish dreadlocks while everyone else slavered over Robbie!

Anyroadup, this Merith bird reckons he 'wooed her while high on wacky baccy' (note to lawyer - this was in Berlin and it's legal there) and 'cheated on' then partner Marie Christine Musswesseles, mum of his little girl Lola, five.

Has to be said, the news has pretty much ruined our Mothers' Day for us. We feel treacherous having sent our ma a bunch of tulips. FROM HOLLAND!

But it's pretty clear this Merith person (what sort of a name is that anyway?) has flogged her tale as she's bitter now Howard has dumped her and she really doesn't come out of this smelling of roses at all. Never mind tulips. And Howard isn't even with Marie anymore either.

But it still leaves us wondering - what TT bombshells are going to be dropped on us next? That Gary secretly tortures kittens? That Jason Orange's favourite colour is actually pink?

We don't think we can take much more so we're going back for a lie down. Wake us up when this trashing of The That's reputation is over...
http://www.3am.co.uk/could-i....95