The Comeback King
Published: 18 Jun 2009

TAKE That play Hampden tomorrow, the first of three nights in Glasgow as part of their sold-out Circus Tour.

In the final part of our series celebrating the Fab Four, MATT BENDORIS turns the spotlight on the group's driving force - singer songwriter Gary Barlow...

HE was the ‘fat one’ from Take That who was the butt of everyone’s jokes.

But Gary Barlow has had the last laugh.

Not only has he been transformed from ugly duckling to a lean, mean fighting machine — he’s also orchestrated the comeback of all comebacks.

Gary was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1990s and penned 16 hit singles.

He notched up two No1 hits and five other top 40 singles as a solo artist in the latter half of the 1990s.

Barlow is also a five-time winner of the prestigious Ivor Novello Award.

And the new stream-lined Barlow, 38, has every right to be happy with his lot.

Take That’s upcoming Circus Tour became the fastest selling in history with 700,0000 tickets snapped up in one day.

But he hasn’t always had it this good.

By 2001, after Take That split, the blonde hunk had ballooned to l6st 8lb. Since then he’s lost 50lb and is a mini man-mountain of taut muscle.

He once said: “I was the fat, white one everyone pushed to one side so they could get a shot of Mark and Robbie.

“I’d never been in a gym until five years ago.

“I’m rebelling against where my body wants it to go. I can’t eat what I want to eat. If I did, I would put on 4lb every week.”

He added: “I was well into the obese bracket given my height (5ft 9in).

“I wasn’t in videos or doing photo-shoots anymore. I didn’t have to look good, I could eat what I wanted. But at the end, I was getting immobile.”

Now he and bandmates Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald are Back For Good since reforming, minus Robbie Williams, in 2006.

Gary said: “I didn’t think we were owed it at all.

“I felt like we were really lucky to have had it last time.

“To have it again, I never even dreamed of it — none of us did. But it feels good.