 ROBBIE: He’s definitely in the top three most disturbed individuals that I’ve ever worked with… I only wanted him to love me. You know, that’s the sad, really sad thing. HOWARD: I don’t wanna get old and look back and think, “Why didn’t I shag that girl?”… I wanted to kill myself, but I’m just too much of a shit bag to do it. GARY: There’d be queues of girls wanting to get to where we were… Never thought that would be the last time I saw him. MARK: We all had our fair share of fun and sex and frolics. A bizarre world, to be a part of something like that, you know? JASON: During Take That there were some very dark times… If Lulu says I’ve give her one and she says I was great, that’s fine by me. But at the peak of their success, they split amidst tales of alcoholism and drug abuse. One of them is now an international superstar. But what happened to the other four? Tonight we find out as we bring all five together for the first time in 10 years. This is Take That… For The Record. (Brit Awards) ROBBIE: But I was always the talented member of the band. (Back of a bus) ALL: We’re off our fuckin’ heads! (Getting changed backstage) ROBBIE: Kiss me prick! THE BEGINNING GARY: By the time I was sort of, driving, 17, I had my own act which was singing cover versions, you know - The Wind Beneath My Wings, whatever. Pop Idol stuff, you know. And that was kind of my living. (Talent contest) PHILIP SCHOFIELD: So, next a senior entry written by 15 year old Gary Barlow. [Gary sings a Christmas song] JASON: I was dancing in and around clubs in Manchester. I started dancing when I was, like, 13, break-dancing and body popping and stuff, and I started dancing on TV shows. (TV show) JASON: Hello, my name is Jason. Jason Orange. I come from Manchester. I decorate in the daytime and I dance at night-time. MARK: I worked in a bank at that time. It was a way to break out of that mould, you know. And I just thought, "Oh yeah." You know? "Why not?" HOWARD: I was a vehicle painter, mending cars for a living. And at the same time, I was dancing but obviously not professional. Luckily for me, he gave me half a day off. If he hadn't given me half a day off I would've been looking at someone else. I woulda been looking at a boy group on TV saying, "Oh yeah, he's gay, he's gay." ROBBIE: I seem to think that my mum heard about it on a radio station one morning and sent my CV off. [puts on mock posh accent] Which, of course, was extensive - my work at the rep. And… "Have you seen my Dodger? I was fantastic!" And she sent the CV off, and then I got a call, I believe, from Nigel Martin Smith to go up and be interviewed. JASON: A friend of mine brought me a clip out of a newspaper. And it was Nigel's advertisement for this band. ROBBIE: I can remember feeling incredibly intimidated and nervous about going into this guy's office. And then he didn't do anything to put that at ease in any way. GARY: I suppose my first meeting with Nigel was one of those milestones in life really. NIGEL: Gary was basically doing the clubs, working the proper working men's clubs. And he came in to see me about doing bit parts 'cause he'd got an Equity card. He mentioned right at the very end that, "Oh by the way, I write music." And so I said, "Oh, right, nice one. Have you got any tapes or anything?" So he left me a tape. GARY: And he took this tape off me like he'd been given a thousand of these things. He just kind of tossed it onto one side of his desk. NIGEL: This track came on and I thought, "That's not him. That's not this kid I've just seen." GARY: I had a show that night so I was washing me Ford Orion, you know. I could hear the phone ringing. NIGEL: "Just about that tape that you gave me. What's on it?" GARY: I said, "It's me." NIGEL: So I said, "That Million Love Songs track, is that you singing?" He went, "Yeah." GARY: "But who's made all the music behind it?" I said, "I do it all in my bedroom. It's just me, the whole thing." NIGEL: So I said, "Can you come in straight… can you come back?" GARY: I said, "Absolutely, what time?" "10 o'clock please, come back and see me." NIGEL: And the demo for Million Love Songs, he had a little studio at home, was exactly the same as what went on to be the hit record. [clip of Million Love Songs video] JASON: So when I went to meet Nigel for the first time it was a bit weird because he was looking at me [laughs and looks away]. He was sort of weighing me up and down, you know. MARK: I remember meeting Rob outside. And he was wearing, if I can remember correctly, like this orange hoodie top. And he was with his mam and I was with my mam. ROBBIE: "Mum, don't walk up the street with me. Go on, go off." And as I looked up there was another lad having exactly the same conversation with his mum. "Mum, leave it now." And as we got closer I was like, "Hi, I'm Rob" and he said, "Hi, I'm Mark." GARY: I never had that natural kind of style thing, where you could just go into a shop and you'd pick out something that looked great on you and… I never had that. ROBBIE: There was this guy with, I've gotta say, a Morrisey haircut. And I was thinking, "Twat." And now I'm not, you know. It's like, I try to have it cut the same today. And it was Gary and he'd got blond hair, I seem to remember. And he's got these Converse 100s on with an Italia '90 jumper if I seem to remember correctly. And I just looked at his trainers and I though, "Knob." GARY: Robbie had all the mod, the cool gear on, you know, and Jason, real natural physique. And Howard just looked like a model, you know. They looked like they all looked after themselves. They dressed well; they were all quite fit. And that was the first time I was kind of, "God, I've gotta work at this." ROBBIE: Howard came late, "Sorry Nige sorry." And Nigel didn't seem to mind, that's weird. Didn't seem to mind - Howard had a lovely body. HOWARD: Gary wasn't so good, but Gary was always the… he always tried his hardest. JASON: Howard and Mark, I immediately warmed to… 'cause they're both just dead nice, lovely lads. You know, I related to them straightaway. Robbie, I just thought he was a bit of a geek at first, when I first met him. NIGEL: I can remember now very clearly saying to them, "You know, in five years time, if it is a success, you'll probably hate each other, you'll definitely hate me because that's what happens. But we'll all be very wealthy." MARK: And then the fun started… THE EARLY YEARS HOWARD: We had this choreographer who was a nice guy, but Nigel had ordered him to do… To make us do press-ups every morning as soon as we got in there. GARY: This guy had us doing press-ups, sit-ups, routines till 7 in the evening. Oh, it was horrible. ROBBIE: At the beginning of the band, he sort of instilled a kind of boot camp mentality that, to a certain extent, I think was needed. (Rehearsals) WOMAN'S VOICE: One, two, three, four, five and six, seven. Keep going. MARK: We even had our outfits by now. We looked the bomb. [nods and laughs] JASON: Nigel had the idea that we had to be quite controversial. We should dress ludicrously [laughs]. When I look back now it was ludicrous. Bondage gear and chains and Lycra and all sorts of stuff. MARK: A lot of gay clubs was where we started off. (Performing Do What U Like) GARY: Let's go! MARK: You know, we'd be in our dressing room and the guy would introduce, "Here they are, Take That." And the song would start and we'd all be trying to get out of our dressing room. HOWARD: We was, like, running through this crowd having our arses pinched, our front bits pinched, and trying to get to the stage, trying to push past everybody and almost missing the cue for the beginning of the song. JASON: We'd do school halls. You know, where kids were actually at school. We'd go into their schools and invade their assemblies to do, like, two or three songs to a backing track, you know. Teachers must've been looking at us like, "Oh my god." With all our bondage gear on and these teachers and the pupils were there. MARK: Then we had our first single and we had our first video. And I think that that was the next stage really. NIGEL: I brought it out on me own label and they went up and down the country performing it anywhere and everywhere. GARY: As a song it's not brilliant, but it got us noticed. HOWARD: With it being your first video, you know, you're getting told what to do and you're going, "Yeah, okay then, okay then." ROBBIE: I got my arse wiped off with a mop and loads of jelly as me and four of me mates lay on our fronts naked, you know. And then we had codpieces and pit boots and Lycra, all-in-ones. HOWARD: I was cleaning jelly outta my arsehole for the next two years after that video. GARY: It was fun but I never thought I'd ever be doing anything like that. (Two male fans) 1: I love you Howard! 2: Gary! NIGEL: We used to turn up at all these roadshows, you know, "Radio 1 Roadshow. Live on stage, Take That." And we're there like… 35 miles an hour through the park waving at the fans. "Salford Van Hire" on the side. It was funny. ROBBIE: We stopped at some motorway services and I think we were in a copy of Number One or Fast Forward or whatever it was. I remember being in the service stations going… thinking to meself, "I'm going to Wogan to sing on the telly." (Terry Wogan show) TERRY WOGAN: They've been tipped as Britain's answer to New Kids on the Block. We're not looking for an answer to that are we? Except these guys can dance as well as sing, and with their latest single Promises, Take That. [Clip of them singing Promises] ROBBIE: I think probably the best time, Promises had just gone in at number 39, we were in our hotel in London, and we all jumped up and down on my bed and we broke it. That's the most excited I've ever been about a chart entry… of Take That or me solo. [clip of Promises video] There was a video for No Reg… No, not No Regrets - that's the song about Take That that I wrote. Promises. And he's in the video. He jumps out of this Jacuzzi with his body like that [mimics what the body is like]. And every time I used to play it, and they ask, "Oh, watch the new video" I used to go, "That's me, that. That's me." 'Cause you can't quite make out who it is. GARY: I felt defeated that we had to release a cover version. But it did what it did for us. It got us in the charts, which is what we needed. [clip of It Only Takes A Minute video] (Fitness video) WOMAN: Now cross your feet and leap out. Now, turn to your side and kick. GARY: What everyone said, you know, "Pop music, it's gone, it's had it." But it was back. All of a sudden, we're an album-selling act. (GMTV) LORRAINE KELLY: What about all these comparisons to New Kids on the Block? Are you fed up with that already? 'Cause I know all the tabloids have been saying that. Do you sort of go, "Oh no."… GARY: We liked it at first. MARK: I think at the beginning we needed something to sort of compare us to. To get us in there. I think it was a good thing. But hopefully now they'll start talking about us as being our own thing. That's what we hope. SUCCESS GARY: There was one thing on my mind and that was to go back home to the studio and write an unbelievable second album. MARK: And we came back with a song called Pray, and that was our first number one. GARY: It was at that very point where people started to think… take me seriously as a songwriter. [clip of Pray video] HOWARD: It was a good video, but we was doing all the sexual thing and stuff. I was near a fountain covered in baby oil, doing all this down me chest [rubs chest] and stuff. I think even then it felt a little bit uncomfortable, but girls like it. You know, girls like this kind of thing. MARK: Sex, yes. But there was… that is something that started to come more and more into the band. (On holiday surrounded by fans) JASON: It's beautiful here. Going on behind Gary to the right. GARY: Safe to say we're in paradise, really. MARK: Drugs and sex and the pop-and-roll. I suppose that's what we were. I think we all had our fair share of fun and sex and frolics. HOWARD: I was naughty, you know? Everyone was naughty. (Dressing room) HOWARD: Suck me sausage! [Jason laughs] ROBBIE: Kiss me prick. [Jason laughs harder] HOWARD: Everyone had a good time. We had our share. (Dressing room) MARK: Phillip, stop fucking filming us getting changed you dirty bastard. GARY: There'd be queues of girls wanting to get to where we were. [clip of Gary in his pants carrying large bags] JASON: I don't remember Nigel saying, "No sex." I only remember Nigel saying, "No full-time girlfriends." (Howard with make-up on) ROBBIE: God, when I put lipstick on you all shouted at me in Belgium. I did have eyeliner on and a dress, though and I was shagging a bloke. ROBBIE: This room was full of girls and she started playing with my cock. [clip of Howard with his trousers down] HOWARD: You know, some of these girls wanna marry you, or some of these girls would kill other people to marry you. (Young Gary) GARY: I've heard fans come up to me in Manchester and say, "Hey, listen, you know, tell Jason that there's this girl threatening if anybody kisses or touches Jason, she's gonna stab them." And you think, "Oh my God, that's the last time I kiss Jason." ROBBIE: We worked really, really hard. JASON: The more successful we became, obviously, the bigger the audiences and the bigger the stages. [clip of concert] MARK: The band… we were five kind of show-offs in a sense, as well, you know. We enjoyed the adulation. It was charged. It was super-charged. (Howard looking tired) HOWARD: Oh, fuck off. GARY: We were all really famous. All of us. It wasn't just one person. It was all five. You know, to go out on your own you'd be recognised by everybody. Go out as a five, oh my god. MARK: The Smash Hits Awards was a show that was quite a big show at the time. We were there and we won the most awards ever. We won seven awards. And I always say that that year we really broke. JASON: We walked backstage where there were other artists. I mean, big, big name celebrities there. And everybody stopped and looked at us. [clip of them acting silly in a Smash Hits photo shoot] MARK: And I think that that was a big moment. That's when the mania really started to kick in. THE FANS [clip of crazy fans] GARY: [sigh] [another clip of crazy fans] (Tour bus) HOWARD: Aaargh, I just got raped! HOWARD: It was the things that they did. You know, write all over everything. Disturb the neighbours. Break things. Try pinching things out of your garden. GARY: You're asleep at night and someone throws something at the window. There's girls out there singing Could It Be Magic till 3:00 in the morning. (Hotel room) MARK: Look what I got woken up by this morning [pulls curtain back to show loads of fans screaming outside the window]. Crazy bunch. Singing Babe at 7:00 in the morning. GARY: It was crazy. JERRY (security): We could see how it was building with the fans. 'Cause I mean, it was getting worse and worse. Fans climbing into hotel windows and followers in vehicles. FAN: I was so obsessed. FAN: We were obsessed. It was quite unhealthy. JERRY: Little innocent girls, as you'd call them, of 14 and 15 years old who would sneak into a hotel. FAN: There were girls in front of the hotel, writing on the tour bus. JERRY: They will smuggle themselves into rooms. They will tell people that they're maids, that they work in the hotel, just to get near the band. FAN: You don't have a social life when you… your life is Take That. And the only social life you have is with your friends going to follow Take That. LULU: A Take That fan was more… a disciple. [laughs] JAMES (security): It's hysteria. PAUL (security): It's literally… put fingers in the eyes. Everything. [clip of Jason being grabbed by fans] JERRY: Do you know what it feels like to have 10 young girls get you from different sides, dragging you? [clip of Mark being surrounded by fans] It's not funny. FAN: They were the new Beatles. And people will start to respect them in the same way, I think. PAUL: We've been in situations where we've had hundreds, thousands. And you've literally had to fight. You've got a guy under your arm, or under each arm, and you literally have to fight your way through. [clip of Take That being dragged through fans. Someone, possibly Howard, is clearly audible saying, "Fuck you, you fucker!"] JERRY: I mean, some of the fans did some wicked things. FAN: Now this sounds really sad and really psychotic, but when I first had my little boy, and he's 8 years old now, when he was probably about 3, I used to point at the telly and say, "That's Daddy." And he used to look at Gary and say, "Daddy! Daddy!" (Tour bus) ROBBIE: [looking out the window] Fancy falling over. Top-heavy with them tits, aren't you love… you dirty snatch. [looks at the camera] I love 'em really. But I couldn't eat a whole one, wahey! FAN: However many thousand people were there, I just remember turning round and just seeing all these arms in the air and it just felt like a big family. It was just… wow. TAKE THAT MANIA NIGEL: One of the records that I always used to hear in the clubs was Relight My Fire by Dan Hartman. LULU: Nigel had said, you know, "We would like you to do it." The record company wanted a black diva, I believe. NIGEL: I suggested they use Lulu and they were like, "No, we don't wanna go with that. That's a really naff idea." LULU: We actually recorded it. And they said if I didn't like it, it wouldn't go out. But of course it was great. It was so much fun to record. NIGEL: Within an hour or so of her doing it, the label rang me. And he went, "You were right. She's done a, you know, brilliant vocal and it works brilliantly." [clip of Relight My Fire] JASON: Yeah, we had a lovely, special relationship. I think Lulu was gracious enough to have… To make you feel like, you know, you're special with her. Yeah, I felt very close to Lulu for a period. LULU: He was so handsome. He had a lot of energy and he worked really hard onstage, Jason. JASON: Did I give her one? [laughs] I don't remember. If I did, I don't remember. I'm a gentleman. LULU: [laughs] JASON: If Lulu says I've give her one and she says I was great, that's fine by me. LULU: I am not going to answer that. And that's my prerogative. GARY: I think we knew we'd done it when that record had been out. NIGEL: You could get a Take That clock, Take That dolls, Take That stickers. There was a Take That calendar. There was Mark and Robbie merchandise as well. T-shirts, scarves, books, all sorts of stationery. There was even a Take That cake, would you believe? (Robbie looking at his doll) ROBBIE: Looks fuck all like me. (Chart show) DJ: And that means it's at number one for a sixth time for Take That with Back For Good. GARY: And I thought, "Wouldn't it be great to have a song just, like, over four chords?" And that's all it is. It's just… [plays chords of Back For Good and his daughter walks in] Hey, now here's me audience. I know I've got a good audience. Do you wanna hear daddy sing? [he sings Back For Good, followed by a clip of the Back For Good video] By the time we had Back For Good, we had a number one in 31 countries with that record. Big hit in America, top 5 in America. You know, that was the pinnacle, I think, that song was. We always said from the very, very word go, "Lets finish when we're at the top." MARK: Yeah, it's probably at a similar time to Rob when… maybe getting more into the drug thing. ROBBIE: Come the time that I realised I couldn't be sacked, that was when he lost me. You know, it was like, "I am now to powerful!" [manic laugh] You know, I think that was… you know; there was a time when I went, "Right, I can't be sacked now. Let's do drugs." THE CRACKS NIGEL: The record company's paying for five star hotels, first class flights, you know, beautiful food. You've got a nice living. (In a Jacuzzi, obviously intoxicated) ROBBIE: Strange thing is people do tend to see us as the boys next door. And we still are, funnily enough. We just happen to be the boys next door to Lord Litchfield. [posh laugh] Jacuzzi and outside… boy? Boy. Oh, thank you very much. [clip of Howard with his penis tucked in] HOWARD: I remember once upon a time, it was on a tour bus, and we all had a wanking competition. [laughs] We had a wanking competition, all sat at the back of this bus. Watching this porno… and Robbie won. [clip of Robbie burping] Robbie came first. (clip of Howard) HOWARD: [holds up his arm] Wanking hand for you, that. Pure muscle there… top wanker. (Back to Robbie in the Jacuzzi) ROBBIE: Call me Obi-Wan Loves-to-get-five-imitations. WOMAN: You want five who? ROBBIE: Imitations. WOMAN: Imitations? ROBBIE: Yeah. WOMAN: You can't be imitated darling. ROBBIE: Isn't that right? HOWARD: We've got these old Polaroids of trying to light this spliff, this big spliff, with this lighter, but with tears running down our eyes. (Howard with a drink) HOWARD: Bollocks. MARK: You know, we smoked a spliff. GARY: It wasn't serious. None of us took it seriously, it was just great. (On a tour bus) ALL: Love the image. You're only in love with an image, love with an image. You're only in love with an image. GARY: Penfold, Penfold, give us a wave. Penfold, give us a wave. Penfold, Penfold, give us a wave. Penfold, give us a wave. [all the lads cheer] MARK: In Spain, on one occasion, we all went clubbing and I think we all, like, did half an E or something and it was the most amazing feeling. (clip of Robbie) ROBBIE: Here is the toilet. This is where every Take That member goes for a pee or a poo. And that's the two P's. A pee or a poo. The two Take That… Five Take That members all go in there for a pee or a poo. All right? JASON: Gradually, we all got… You know, things became too chaotic. (On a tour bus) ALL: Weeeeee're naughty, we're naughty, we're off our fucking 'eads, shit, ah! JASON: We were all getting too much money, perhaps. Egos became too inflated. (In a lift, some with alcohol) GARY: Fucking kiss you lad? JASON: Korean boozy-do. ROBBIE: I'm gonna get some booze. GARY: Oh don't, you're started this bastard now. JASON: Tensions just started to come about amongst us all. (clip of Robbie, Jason and Mark) MARK: Stop picking on those who've already had one. [points at Jay] MARK: There was a little but more arguing in the band now. You know, there was still a togetherness but… you know, the jokes that used to be quite light were actually a bit heavier now. (On a tour bus) ALL: Aaaah! ROBBIE: Who the fucking hell are you? NIGEL: In Germany, the very first MTV Awards from the Brandenburg Gate, I flew in there to Robbie in bed, shivering, ill, 'cause he's been up all night with a certain international model, drinking champagne and taking cocaine. [Once You've Tasted Love plays over a Robbie clip] JASON: Robbie always wanted to be more or do more than what he was doing in the band. So he started to cause problems. Or, to rephrase that, he started to become a problem for us. ROBBIE: I was so depressed. So depressed. And I was going back to my hotel in Manchester… and I'd just drink myself into oblivion. And I could just remember, you know, wailing like a banshee, uncontrollable, in my room by myself, downing a bottle of neat vodka. You know, and I was 19, 20. MARK: Do you know, he hid it well, in a sense, you know. At night after gigs, you know, I'd have a bit of wine. You know? Rob obviously had his bit of vodka. But I didn't see him… you know, it wasn't like I saw him walking around backstage with a bottle of vodka or anything like that. HOWARD: Robbie was always into drinking. He liked to have a reight boozy-do, we used to call it. A boozy-do. (On a yacht) ROBBIE: Went out last night, didn't get in until 6:00. But, you know, do it while you're young, don't you? As I say, really enjoying ourselves so… GARY: Didn't really ever take him that seriously, 'cause he didn't really wanna be taken that seriously. He was just the joker. The funny guy, you know. (On a yacht) ALL: Weeeee're naughty, we're naughty, we're off our fucking 'eads, shit, ah! HOWARD: Never knew whatsoever that he was on a bottle of vodka. (Rehearsals) ROBBIE: [intro to Everything Changes] Lend us some money so I can buy us some booze. Buy us a doner kebab and lend us your car… Forever more! ROBBIE: My drug taking would have happened with or without Take That. You know, and before Take That I'd done acid and speed and smoked a lot of weed. So I was sort of heading into that direction anyway. MARK: Rob went off to Glastonbury. And I remember he came back and he was absolutely wasted and he went upstairs and had a bit of a kip. And then he came down a bit later and then Rob said he didn't wanna be in the band no more. ROBBIE LEAVES [Love Ain't Here Anymore plays over montage of Robbie clips] NIGEL: The day that Robbie left was probably the hardest day ever, you know, in all my professional career. ROBBIE: Something just snapped inside my head. I'd gone. I'd physically and mentally gone. I remember the night before we went out with a competition winner for a curry. And then I went back to my hotel in Manchester, drank myself stupid again, woke up the next day, rehearsed as normal for the morning. JASON: Robbie weren't pulling his weight. He was just being quite belligerent really. ROBBIE: I couldn't take in information at the best of times, regarding dance routines and stuff. But these rehearsals in particular, couldn't take anything in. GARY: We did it all wrong, I think. We sat there as a pack, like a gang. Told him what we thought of him. That he needed to pull his weight. What's he gonna do? ROBBIE: And they said, you know, "We're been thinking about…" This is how I saw it. "We've been thinking about doing this next tour as a four-piece. What do you think?" GARY: He completely went on the defensive. Just sort of, completely, like, "Listen, if you want me to leave, I'll go." ROBBIE: And I stood up, and we used to have a table full of fruit, and I picked up a melon and I went, "Can I take this?" And everybody laughed. Walked across the room and I got to the door. And I looked back at them, and I was thinking, "This is it?" And they looked back at me, and then I walked through the door. And then I left it a couple of seconds, and I jumped back in [shows how he jumped in]. Like that. And everybody laughed. And then I walked. GARY: Never thought that would be the last time I saw him. ROBBIE: My security, our security at the time, Paul, said, "So I'll be back on Thursday to come and pick you up." I said, "Paul, I'm going to my house in Stoke." PAUL: So I goes, "What time tomorrow?" And he goes, "I'm not coming back." ROBBIE: "Okay, I'll be back on Thursday to come and pick you up in the…" "Paul, I'm not coming back on Thursday." PAUL: And I'm like, "Yeah yeah yeah, I'll be here about 10 or 11." ROBBIE: I said, "Paul, I don't think you understand. I'm not coming back." PAUL: "Alright, bollocks." So I get in the car. And even then, I still think I'm gonna get a phone call he's gonna go, "No no, pick me up tomorrow at such and such." ROBBIE: [looks down] And then I started to cry. [looks up and nods, followed by a montage of Robbie clips] NEWSREADERS: He saddened a thousand hearts when he walked out of Take That last week… future of the pop group Take That is unclear… has left Britain's biggest band to pursue a solo career… A suicide helpline had to be set up for distraught fans. (Robbie on Live and Kicking) ROBBIE: It's got nothing more to do than just seven days a week, 24 hours a day for six years, you become to get annoyed by people's egos. And you start to get annoyed by people… the way… the mind games. GARY: I was shocked. We were all shocked, I think. We didn't think he'd actually go. HOWARD: We found out he was on a boat in the south of France, I think, with Paula Yates and George Michael. We thought, "Well, that's it. That's how much he gives a shit." JASON: When Robbie left I didn't feel that much. For whatever reason, Robbie and I didn't get on that well in the band. MARK: I didn't really think about it that much if I'm honest with you. Didn't really think about it that much. I just know that I had two weeks to learn how to rap. NIGEL vs. ROBBIE ROBBIE: Nigel. Haven't got a nice word to say about him. He's definitely in the top three most disturbed individuals that I've ever worked with. NIGEL: Well what have I done? What did I do, Rob? I took you out of Stoke-on-Trent. God, there's one thing I did for him. And I made him massive and look at him now. Look where he is now. ROBBIE: He thought I could do a job. You know, it wasn't a charitable event. NIGEL: I'm very, very proud of the part I played in his success. ROBBIE: There was no, you know, "We'll pick him from Stoke in Tunstall 'cause he looks as though he needs it. You know, I made him money. NIGEL: Yes, I did sue him at the end of Take That. I sued him because he owed me £200,000 in commission. ROBBIE: And he would say, "Yeah, I picked him and I don't get any credit for that." He picked me because I was good. NIGEL: I gave him his career as far as I'm concerned. ROBBIE: If it hadn't been him who'd found me, it'd have been somebody else. NIGEL: Rubbish. I mean, you know, I've heard Robbie has been referring to the various members of Take That as "casualties from Take That." ROBBIE: He's really failed himself in this lifetime. NIGEL: Robbie Williams, from the life of 17, has travelled the world first class, stayed in hotels. He's worth millions. He's a very lucky young lad. Don't talk to me about casualties, Robbie, it's sick. ROBBIE: I only wanted him to love me. You know, that's the sad, really sad thing. You know, I only wanted him to love me. And he never did. [shrugs] THE SPLIT [performing Back For Good on the Nobody Else tour] HOWARD: We pulled it together. We did it ourselves. We did it with the four of us. GARY: We'd had the stages made. We were deep in investment, basically, in these shows. We had to do them. HOWARD: There was a risk of this concert that was coming up - half of the people weren't gonna be there. MARK: That first night that we walked on that stage, you know, we didn't know what the reaction was gonna be. We didn't know how that was gonna go. GARY: I mean, we just… we kept at it. Nothing stopped for us. MARK: I knew it wasn't the same. I knew it wasn't the same. [clip of How Deep Is Your Love video] JASON: The main feeling was… I was just getting carried away with the drama of it. Just enjoying the drama and the attention more than anything. It almost didn't feel like the end. GARY: We all went on holiday at Christmas, and that's when the band ended. NIGEL: We always said, you know, "Go out with a number one." And, you know, six years on, it was getting hard. It wasn't fun anymore. (The press conference) GARY: Can we just say, thanks for everybody's support in the last 5 years. You've been absolutely fantastic to us. But unfortunately, the rumours are true. How Deep Is Your Love is gonna be our last single together and The Greatest Hits is gonna be our last album. And from today, there's no more. [looks across at the other guys] MARK: So there you go. GARY: Thank you. (clips of distraught fans) NEWSREADER 1: After months of speculation, the news that every Take That fan had… NEWSREADER 2: Take That, one of the most popular bands of the 90s… NEWSREADER 3: Broke many of their young fans' hearts… NEWSREADER 4: Take That have confirmed they're to split up after 3 years of success, including seven number one hits. JERRY: From our point of view, even from him, it's very hard, because we've worked with these guys for five years. JAMES: We watched them grow up. JERRY: We watched them grow up from kids to men. FAN 1: I just spent the day in my room. It was horrible. FAN 2: It still upsets me and, I mean, you can see I'm really crying. It just upsets me. PAUL: I've never seen anything that comes close to the guys. FAN 3: I thought my world had ended. I didn't see any way out of it. I was probably crying for about two weeks. JASON: I suppose in and amongst all the feelings, there was a feeling of relief it's over. MARK: No regrets, no thinking, "Oh, let's do a little bit more." For me it was like, "Best news of the year so far." GARY: Did I feel ready? No. I didn't. But it was time. (ITN news) TREVOR MCDONALD: That's it for Take That and for us, too. I hope you'll join us again tomorrow. From all of us here at ITN, good night. NIGEL: The only one that didn't want to call it a day was Howard, who just sat there in floods of tears saying, "No! Let's carry on." You know? "I don't want to stop this. I'm loving it." HOWARD: I just wasn't ready for it finishing. Out of everybody, I wasn't ready for it. And I didn't want it to finish. I was really disappointed. I must've been emotional and tired about what was happening. I already knew that the group was gonna finish. And I decided to walk out of the hotel and go to the Thames. The state of my mind at that time… I've never told anybody this. I was seriously thinking of jumping in the Thames. Thinking I wanted to kill myself, but I'm just too much of a shit bag to do it. NIGEL: Howard was going to commit suicide? That is frightening, that. That is really shocking. I never knew that. GARY vs. ROBBIE ROBBIE: Gary Barlow's a wanker! No, I'm joking. Maybe I can put some… don't put that in. [laughs] No, but I sincerely mean it, you know. He is a wanker. (MTV interview) RAY: Now Gary, at the press conference, you said you were all thinking about your solo career, but in fact, yours is already sorted. The album's finished and the single is ready, isn't it? GARY: Not quite. Not quite. Be another month or so, yet. And it'll be all finished. RAY: When's the single released? GARY: Single, July. Album, August, I hope. RAY: And what's the title of the single? GARY: Can't tell you just yet, Ray. RAY: That's not a very good title for a song, Gary. GARY: No, no, but the album's called S&M Dungeon in Amsterdam. [clip of Forever Love video] GARY: I did go for it. But, I mean, I did feel like I was repeating old ground, really. [clip of Love Won't Wait video] ROBBIE: It's the worst for my alcoholism at that time. 'Cause I'd wake up and I couldn't start the day or do the day without probably downing a bottle of vodka before the afternoon had finished. [clip of Lazy Days video] ROBBIE: There was no plan. Obviously in the back of my mind it was, "Right, start a solo career, be big." [clip of South Of The Border video] ROBBIE: I remember at the time genuinely, genuinely thinking he's a genuinely crap songwriter, you know. [clip of Open Road video] GARY: I think the biggest problem with Robbie, Gary, is that we were both trying to do the same thing. And, you know, only one person can win, really. [clip of Angels video] LULU: Angels. I mean, Angels turned everything around for him. JASON: Angels. It's just, everyone loves it. It's a lovely tune. It's a brilliant tune. Everyone loves it straightaway. GARY: [pauses] It's a great song. A great song. All the stars aligned for him, and… yeah, it worked out for him. It did. I was dropped by RCA. I didn't have a record deal. I couldn't get away from the industry quick enough. I just wanted to hide. Hide me somewhere because it was very humiliating, a lot of it. I've never laid in bed wishing I was Robbie Williams, but I guess seven or eight years ago I lay in bed wishing I had his career. Definitely. I didn't wanna be something I wasn't. [pauses] Maybe I should have been. Maybe I should've tried that. [grins] TODAY (Robbie concert) ROBBIE: I'd like to dedicate this next song to Mark Owen, Jason Orange, Howard Donald and Gary Barlow. This is No Regrets. [sings No Regrets] (The Lake District, UK) MARK: We finished in Amsterdam and I came home and went on a two week holiday. And I came to the Lakes. You know, it was somewhere I'd always wanted to visit. I'd never visited here before. And I came up and had a beautiful time. Very relaxing. One being, I knew all the other lads were gonna move to South Manchester, to the Cheshire area. And I didn't wanna, kind of, it to become like the Take That village, you know, where we all lived within a stone's throw of each other. And I just wanted to get away from, you know, the whole thing. Why? I think that, you know, you live… I'd spent five or six years, six years on the road with them, so I could think of nothing worse than living on the next street to them. Do you know? In a sense. [plays piano] I think what was one of the weirdest things was to go from, you know, having your schedule, day-by-day schedule, you knew exactly what you were doing, exactly where you were going, to then just, you know, closing the gates and going, "Okay, what do I do now?" [plays song] This is a song that I'm working on at the moment for a film, you know? I got a publishing deal this year which is fantastic, you know. I never had a publishing deal for so long. I miss Rob not being in my life like he was then, you know. He's probably the one I miss the most. I missed him from when he left and I miss him being a close friend. I do still miss Rob. [sings Four Minute Warning] (Brit Awards) PRESENTER: Okay guys, the winner of Best British Single is… Robbie Williams for Rock DJ… PRESENTER: … it's Robbie Williams! HOWARD: I recorded my own album, which is, in my eyes, a great album [clip of Speak Without Words video]. Just ended up that we didn't end up releasing the album, and that all went to pieces. It was an amazing single. It really was an amazing single. It was called Speak Without Words. But it never got released. (In a car on his way to a DJ gig) HOWARD: I get a buzz out of dj-ing so much. I love dj-ing, I really do. Ten years' time, I'd like to think that I was a successful house producer. (Bournemouth, UK) HOWARD: This is my house, which hopefully is gonna be ready in about six weeks, but looking at it, I'm not so sure. I split up with me girlfriend and she moved here with my daughter, and so, wherever my daughter goes, I go. So, I decided to move round here, sell my other house and move here. That's the reason. Being going back and forward to Germany, 'cause me daughter lives in Germany as well, it's difficult to get things moving. And every time I come back, I want things changing and I can't follow what work's going on, and it's a bit of a nightmare really. (On a beach) HOWARD: Should I throw you in? GRACE: No! INTERVIEWER: So, Howard, has fatherhood… has it surprised you? HOWARD: Surprised me? Yeah, big time. Well, it certainly surprised me 'cause none of them were planned. HOWARD: How does it go, Daddy's music? GRACE: I don't know, whisper it in my ear. [Howard beatboxes] No, that isn't it. Daddy, whisper it in my ear. HOWARD: You know. [He beatboxes again] GRACE: No, it isn't! [sings Can't Get You Out Of My Head] HOWARD: [Howard laughs loudly] I don't play Kylie Minogue! GRACE: Yeah you do. [Howard laughs even harder] HOWARD: I don't play Kylie Minogue, you silly fool. GRACE: You do, you do, you do do do. HOWARD: I just love being a daddy. I love being a daddy. I could recommend it to anybody. (Brit Awards) ROBBIE: I'm… I'm sorry that I can't be here in person to receive this award. I'm doing panto with Celine Dion in Wolverhampton. JASON: Since the break up nearly 10 years ago, I've gone back to college. Did some college courses. I did some backpacking. Travelled the world. I've sat around a lot, pondering a lot. Chilled out a lot. Yeah, so now I'm 35, I'm just starting now to feel like I would like to go back and do something. But I'm not sure… I'm not sure what yet. (Ibiza, Spain) JASON: I've been sleeping poorly for, like… I'd say 15 years actually. There was never too much of a problem during Take That, but it was always there, present. But it's since Take That, so in the last 10 years, my sleep's just gotten awful. I just have phases where I just can't sleep. I've analysed it for myself and I think what it is, what happens to me as I lie down and I'm absolutely exhausted, something else kicks in. It's like another… not a voice. [laughs] You know, I do have voices in me head, but it's not one of those voices. Something just kicks in which… it almost challenges me. A stubbornness coming from somewhere inside of myselves. Stopping myself from getting a decent night's sleep. It's almost like… something in me wants to will me to fail. (Brit awards) PRESENTER: And the winner is… Robbie Williams! PRESENTER: Robbie Williams... PRESENTER: Robbie Williams... PRESENTER: And Mr Robert Williams. (Cheshire, UK) GARY: [opens front door] Good day, everyone, and welcome to my crib. Come on in. When I bought this place it was a total wreck. This is one of those lounges that you never sit in, like, ever. This is the second time in 10 years I've ever been in here. It's great. Anyone fancy any dinner? Thank you. Have you been messing with my chairs? [sees Emily in the hallway] Hello gorgeous. I've got my computer in here. This is where I do all my work. [drumbeat comes on and he taps his foot] Dawn was one of the dancers. I was 17, she was 18. DAWN: I wasn't into them at all. It was just a job. 'Cause I did the last ever tour they did so it was just a job that I was doing. A good job, but, you know… GARY: We didn't pay very much did we? DAWN: No no, it was rubbish! [laughs] But at least I got something else out of it. (In a hallway of gold discs) GARY: I've put all the stuff I did in the band that side, and I've put all the stuff I've done since the band that side. So there's a bit of work to do here. (Brit awards) DAVID WALLIAMS: [as Howard] Sorry, Gary. Ex-Take That Robbie Williams for Angels. [newpaper clips showing Robbie's £80m record deal] ROBBIE: Sorry Gary. But I was always the talented member of the band. THE REUNION Ten years after splitting, Take That members decided to meet in a country retreat. This will be the first time the band have been together since Robbie's departure. GARY: It's gonna be interesting to see how everyone looks and how everyone… what everyone's done with their lives in the last 10 years. HOWARD: It's actually great to be getting all together, all in one room, and I think it's gonna be a bit of a mash-up tonight. MARK: I think everybody would love Rob to come. It has been 10 years now for us all. I think it's… and I think they'd all really like to see him. JASON: I'll be pleased to see him and I think he will come. I hope he does come. If he doesn't, I think he'll miss out. It'll be nice to see him, but it might also be a bit strange. I might wanna give him a slap. A cosh around his head for saying horrible things about Take That. (In lounge) GARY: Aaaah! [rubs hands together] How you doing mate? You all right? [hugs Jason] HOWARD: Hiya mate. [hugs Jason] You're looking nice and suave. MARK: [to Gary] Have your tie? GARY: After all that talking you come dressed like that. MARK: I know. The tie's for later. GARY: Give us a hug then. Good do, mate. HOWARD: I thought you was gonna wear it now. JASON: [to Mark] Give us a cuggle. MARK: Give us a cuggle [laughs]. The ties for dinner. JASON: All right? MARK: Yeah, very good. (After dinner) JASON: Are we allowed to tell you that we've… we've had a… well, I've betted Howard £100 that Robbie shows up. [laughs] GARY: I dunno, you're gonna be broke lad. HOWARD: I think he's not coming and Jay thinks he is. Anybody know anything? JASON: We had to take our tops off so Nigel could have a look at our torsos while dancing. See how good we looked in the flesh. Don't you remember? Or was that just me? [laughs] Dancing without me top on. GARY: [laughs] Yeah! I think you took yours off without him asking. JASON: [looking at Howard] Don't you remember that? HOWARD: Was that you then, when I was round that curtain, and Nigel was sucking your nipple. [all laugh very hard] That's who is was. JASON: Nah, you's have all forgotten. We definitely did that. GARY: Was that not how you got into the audition in the first place? HOWARD: Before that, I remember being in his office and we were all sat around his desk and he said, "Before we do anything, I just want to let you know that I'm gay." JASON: Paul said that? HOWARD: No, no, no. Nigel said that and he was saying, "If any of you have got any skeletons in the closet… tell them me now." And I think you… [looks at Jason] We couldn't shut you up! [all laugh loudly] Nobody could get a word in edgewise. JASON: I think I was probably pretty instrumental in Robbie's leaving. I think I could've tried to persuade Robbie a bit more than I did to stay. I could've looked after him a bit more. But I think I just wanted to be on your side and against him so I felt more secure. HOWARD: I remember Mark saying that nobody was really there for Robbie. And it's true, because I kind of realise now how young he was and what happened and you don't really know what's going though his head and stuff. I didn't really… I did care, but it just happened so fast and… I wish I'd said something. GARY: I still feel bad about that day when Bob went. Because I feel like we probably did it all wrong. I felt like we did all gang up one side of the table and say to him, "What you doing? What you doing? What's going on?" You know… JASON: Why did we do that, d'you think? GARY: I think the reason why was… I don't think we were protecting Mark or Jay or Robbie. I think we were protecting Take That. MARK: That's what we were. That's what, he last five years, we had been groomed to be. We were that band. PRODUCER: Guys, we asked Robbie to come tonight… [zooms on their faces] he's declined. HOWARD: … Aw come on, where is he? [all laugh nervously] MARK: No… well… I'm not surprised to be honest. I think that it's, you know, we have over the years seen a bit of each other, haven't we? And er… and it is 10 years since Rob's been in this environment and… you know, you gotta… and I understand… that him not wanting to come… it's a shame… JASON: I'm gutted that Robbie's not coming. MARK: Yeah, I'm gutted. JASON: I'm gutted because… erm… as much for him really, not that I care about him that much but… just as another human being, I just think it… it'd be good for him and good for us and it would've finished the story off nicely. We started out as a five, and to finish this, do this, as a five, it would've been a nice… ending. MARK: He might not actually give a shit. PRODUCER: We'd quite like to play the messages he's recorded for you… ROBBIE: Howard, you know, I… I just sincerely apologise for any upset that I may have caused you after me leaving the band. Erm… anything that I said, and anything that I've done subsequently that has been demeaning towards you, I apologise. You're never anything but nice to me, you know, and you put me up in your house in Ashton and we went round Ashton on Sunday night with you and your mate Joff… Joff? [Howard smiles] And erm… I thank you very much for the love you showed me. To Jay - I'm really sorry as well about taking the piss when I was in the band and when I left [Jason smiles] and erm… I think you're a good man and I'd love to see you one day. Mark… you know, well, we're still in touch and er… we speak to each other. I think you're a genius, mate, and the nicest person I've ever met. Gaz… you're an amazing songwriter. I apologise for saying that you weren't. I had my head up my arse at the time and wanted to be in Oasis; I apologise. You are an amazing songwriter and you have an amazing voice. [all look at each other and laugh nervously] GARY: Is that it? HOWARD: Well then… MARK: What would you wanna say back? GARY: I think we've all… I've definitely said it in my interviews. HOWARD: It's just a shame that he's not here really. I mean, when you see him on there talking about us like he is… I mean, it's, it's positive and I think… we're all positive about Robbie and what he's doing now it'd just be so nice for him to be here and to be sharing what we've shared today - bringing up old memories and stuff. MARK: Yeah… it would be but… ROBBIE: I'd go into a room with Mark, Howard, and Jason… now, you know? But I think with Gary, I think, there's a strange mixture of guilt from my part on what I said after I left the band and also… knowing that… I wouldn't get any er… resolve? Yeah, I wouldn't get any resolve. Erm… because I don't think, as a person, he could see how he was or what he did or how he acted or how he behaved. NIGEL: When Take That were finished the knives were out for one of them… they were looking for the story. And so the story became Gary, isn't Gary boring and Gary's not having any success… GARY: There's nothing more exciting that a duel, there just isn't, goes back in history that does. Everybody loves a fight out. NIGEL: Now, looking back at it, I've got a completely different opinion. Now, Robbie actually did Gary Barlow the biggest favour ever because who's really the happiest? [Gary plays Twinkle, Twinkle on the piano and his daughter, Emily, sings along. At the same time a montage of Robbie clips plays on the screen] ROBBIE: 14 Brits, fuck off! No, in all seriousness… I would, I would swap everything that I have for that. Yep… [clip of Robbie and Gary hugging] In 6 years, Take That sold over 25 million records worldwide achieving eight consecutive number one hits with eight singles. Their success spawned a new generation of boy and girl bands including The Spice Girls, and Boyzone. Today they're recognised as one of the most successful British bands of all time… [Never Forget plays over a montage of clips] GARY: We touched people's lives and that's what music does, it touches your life and it's a memory and it's with you forever. MARK: On the whole it was fucking great, man, fucking great. JASON: I'd love Take That to be remembered as a bunch of blokes that came along from nowhere, took the charts by storm, took the world by storm. HOWARD: I celebrate Take That knowing how good it was for me and my life; how it has changed my life so much, took my life in a direction I never thought it would go to. ROBBIE: Brilliant pop, we were just great popstars and I don't think there's been a boyband as good as us for entertainment and for songs ever since. [End credits] |
Created by Lizzie  Thanks to The TT Board |