Howard Donald sparked a social media frenzy last night when he made a snipey comment about The X Factor –which featured an appearance from his old bandmate, Robbie Williams.
And Take That fans were immediately whipped into a frenzy, worried that his comments could cause a rift between him and the Robster.
The Take That star posted the incendiary Tweet at just after 8pm on Sunday evening, just minutes after his other bandmate Gary Barlow had performed on Strictly and just before Robbie was set to perform a song from his chart-topping new album, The Heavy Entertainment Show.
In the message, the lispy one tried to encourage parents to get their kids to watch more educational shows, like David Attenborough’s current series, Planet Earth 2 and not waste their time on a show he described as “s***e”.
“Try learning something and watch #planetearth2 instead of the s***e on itv,” he wrote in his post, adding, “Record and play to your kids, they will be transfixed! #awesome.”
When his fans tweeted to remind him that his mate Robbie was performing on that particular “s***e”, Howard, who with Take That has performed on The X Factor several times, was fast to assure them that he wasn’t actually slating Robbie at all, tweeting:
“I know! And that’s the only reason I’m recording it so I can forward through the poo.”
Robbie, who appears totally naked on the cover of the new issue of Attitude, performed his new single Love My Life which he told Dermott O’Leary is about watching his two kids, Theodora and Charlton, growing up.
Meanwhile, over on the BBC, Gary Barlow, who showed off a thinner frame, sang Dare, a bouncy song from the musical version of Calender Girls.