Take That back, but not for good

20 November 2005

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In the 1990's Take That ruled the world. They were the most successful boy band to emerge from Britain since the Beatles.With record sales reaching 25 million and 14 top ten hits under their belt the magic combination of Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald appeared to be indestructible.But in 1996, after a manic few years that culminated in the loss of their youngest member - Robbie Williams - the band broke millions of fans hearts by announcing they were splitting.
Their single, 'How Deep is your love' was to be their last.

Now almost a decade later the ultimate boy band are back - and have proven that they still have what it takes to make the headlines.To mark the ten year anniversary of their demise the northern boys have released a greatest hits compilation, 'Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection'.
To coincide with the CD's release the former band recorded a TV documentary, 'Take That: For The Record' - which saw each member speak candidly for the first time about each other and their time in the band.Robbie Williams - the most successful solo artist to come out of the band - created controversy first by appearing in the documentary and later by failing to turn up to its London premiere.Fans and music critics alike were surprised that Robbie agreed to be in the show. He has, after all, been extremely vocal about his dislike of lead singer and song writer Gary Barlow and their old manager Nigel Martin Smith.
But the phenomenally successful singer put his grudges aside and talked openly and honestly about his time in the band.

The handsome star said: "Maybe in doing this documentary I can say the right things and put a few ghosts to rest. "We were and are the best boy band that's ever been that sings and dances. It should be celebrated because it was an amazing moment in pop."The multi-millionaire singer revealed how being in Take That saved his life.

The star believes he would have wound up in jail, or worse, had it not been for the Manchester-based group. He claims he would have been forced to turn to drug dealing or burglary to fund his own addictions.

He said: "I'd have had a problem with drugs. "I would have been a dealer or a burglar and that's the truth because I wouldn't have had the money to fund my addiction and I'd have probably been in jail now - so Take That probably saved my life.

"Before Take That, I'd done acid, speed and smoked a lot of weed. "For me, the drug intake obviously sped up a lot quicker until it was my life, but for the other lads it wasn't really part of their lives."

Robbie also spoke of how lonely he felt during his days in the band and admitted he used to drink a bottle of vodka a day to help him through it.

Former Take That boss Nigel Martin Smith - who sued Robbie when he left the band - says the 'Angels' singer is still bitter and could self destruct at any minute.

He said: "He's so bitter and it's hard to know what his problem is, but he's always had a self-destruct button.
"Despite all the nasty things he's said about me, I still worry about Rob.
I'm scared that one day I'm going to wake up and be told that he's dead, like Paula Yates.'

Martin also revealed the singer was frequently in a bad state towards the end of his time with the band.

He told ITV during the documentary: "We were supposed to be doing the MTV Awards in Germany but Robbie was unwell. He'd been in bed with an international model the night before - I can't say who - and he was shaking. A complete state. I called a doctor and told Robbie to be honest about what he'd taken so we'd get him the right shot. "He was a real mess."

The boys held a glittering event in London's Notting Hill to air the ITV show before it was shown on television. All of the band turned up to celebrate but Robbie snubbed the launch.

The four remaining members admitted that they would have liked Robbie to attend the reunion but said that he was forgiven. Mark Owen insisted there were no hard feelings. He said: "It would have been great to have had Robbie here tonight, but we were really glad he was involved in the documentary. We understand that he's got a day job and we haven't."

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