Singer Robbie Williams, who is starring in the BBC documentary Boybands Forever this weekend (November 16), previously opened up about his rocky friendship with Take That bandmate Gary Barlow.
Robbie, alongside Gary, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Howard Donald, rose to fame in Take That in 1992, selling millions of albums. While the group enjoyed their fair share of victories, that didn’t stop a number of clashes within the group.
And, at the height of Take That’s success in the 1990s, Robbie decided to quit the band.
Robbie Williams’ rift with Gary Barlow
Speaking in his 2023 Netflix documentary, Robbie Williams: Raw. Honest. Real, the Angels hitmaker admitted he wasn’t friends with Gary.
A lot of me resented him.
“I disliked Gary the most because he was the one that was supposed to have everything and the career and I wanted to make him pay. I was vengeful,” he admitted.
Describing his band member as “cold”, Robbie claimed Gary “seemed to be one person managing Take That” and said the band “was all geared around him”.
“And as a young person, I would have been jealous of that. A lot of me resented him. I was going home from those days thinking this is weird and uncomfortable. It’s Lord of the Flies stuff,” Robbie continued.
Robbie ‘sorry’ for the way he treated Gary
Robbie’s bitter feud with Gary has been well-documented in the press over the years.
Previously, Robbie said Gary was “dead” and slagged him off on stage. Older and wiser, and willing to put everything behind him, Robbie has since apologised.
“I’m sorry that I treated Gary like that,” he said in the doc.
Take That reunite
Since rekindling their friendship, Robbie and Gary have collaborated several times. In 2010, the pair teamed up for the single Shame.
And, after continuing without him as a four-piece, Robbie rejoined the group to release the 2010 album Progress. To promote the record, they also embarked on a tour.
The band is now a trio, after Robbie continued with his solo career and Jason left the band.
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Boybands at the BBC starts at 8.15pm on BBC Two on Saturday (November 16).
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