14 DAY TRIAL // Fans weren’t the only ones that suffered when Take That broke up in 1996. Even though he enjoyed some success as a solo artist, Gary Barlow too handled the split with difficulty, eating his way through the pain.
When his second solo album performed well below expectations and his record label dropped him, Gary turned to food for comfort, he says in a new interview cited by the Daily Mail.
He was depressed and he didn’t even know it at the time, which is why he allowed himself to become overweight, with a BMI (body mass index) of 34.7.
He had zero fun with being fat, he says.
“I felt horrible. I felt [expletive]. For someone so big, I felt incredibly small,” the singer says. Now, he’s back in top shape, thanks to a good combination of exercise and healthy eating.
Of course, he’s no longer dealing with the issues he was facing back then – which is something he didn’t realize on the spot.
“[The weight gain was] about food, obviously, because I was shoving it in my mouth, but it was more about a reaction to who I’d been,” Barlow explains.
He’d decided he was no longer the popstar he once was and this was the only way he knew to show it to the world.
“I’d decided, ‘OK, nobody wants me, but I don’t want to do it anyway, and to make sure I don’t do it again, this is how I’m going to look’,” he says.
“I realized afterwards it was a form of depression,” adds.
Barlow, now a judge on the British X Factor, has also announced recently that Robbie Williams is again out of Take That, but that the band will continue as a 4-piece as soon as they’re officially back in business (they’re now on a break).
Contrary to media reports, this time, the split from Williams occurred on very friendly terms, with Barlow saying Robbie is always welcome back, whenever he feels the need to get together again, as we also informed you earlier today.