Take That: 35 years of success, breakups, jealousy, mental health problems and reunions

It was the early 1990s when Manchester promoter Nigel Martin-Smith brought together five young Brits after a casting call to form a boy band to rival New Kids on the Block. “His vision: Gary [Barlow] would be the singer-songwriter, the creative force and unifying element of the group. Mark [Owen] was the youngster, so to speak, the one who would attract the teenage girls. Everyone knew that Robbie [Williams] was a lot of fun; he was the funny one of the group. And Howard [Donald] and I were the dancers. We were the ones who performed the numbers from the back,” Jason Orange explains to describe a formula that certainly worked. His thoughts can be heard in the documentary Take That, which premieres Tuesday, January 27, on Netflix.

The three-part documentary features previously unseen home movies filmed by Howard (the members of Take That, like most boy bands, have always been called by their first names by their fans), archival footage, and new interviews with current members Gary, Mark, and Howard himself. The voiceovers of Robbie and Jason are also heard; they weren’t interviewed for the documentary, but their archival statements help to understand many of the aspects that propelled these young men to the top and also to rock bottom, before they reunited as adults.

Throughout their 35-year career, Take That sold 45 million records worldwide and achieved 12 number one hits in the U.K. charts. It’s a story marked by Martin-Smith’s control, Robbie Williams’s first and highly publicized departure, and the group’s dramatic breakup a few months later. In addition to mental health and eating disorders stemming from the split, there was a highly anticipated musical comeback that returned them to the top, now without Martin-Smith — a non-negotiable requirement from Jason for their 2005 reunion, as explained in the Netflix documentary, which chronologically reviews their career. “It’s only now that we can look back and see what we really went through,” Gary says.

“In 1995, Take That reached the top, and from there, the only way was down,” the first episode states. It begins with footage of their early rehearsals and first performances in gay clubs; then, seeing their greater potential with the teenage market, they moved on to performing in schools; and finally, it shows them as pop stars — the first British group to have four number one hits after the Beatles. The first episode also begins to hint at the reasons for their breakup.

“There was a part of me that felt superior to the rest, musically speaking,” recalls Gary, the songwriter and the manager’s favorite. “I don’t think Gary realized on a personal level how he was or how he was behaving,” Robbie Williams adds.

“We were at a point of personal discovery. Even though you’re part of a group, you’re trying to find yourself. But the group’s identity was forged before we had our own,” reflects Mark, who was 18 when he started in Take That. “With Back for Good [1995] we had reached the peak as a band. But that was also the beginning of the end. Egos started to show, it became too chaotic, and the first frictions between us began to emerge,” he adds.

“I’ve always felt a bit ashamed for not noticing that everything was falling apart. Nobody looked around to see how everyone was doing,” Gary explains at the beginning of the second episode. Mark and Howard confirm this: they didn’t talk about their feelings or how they were doing. And what was happening then was that Robbie was depressed. “I’d go back to the hotel and drown my sorrows in a bottle of vodka, get completely wasted to forget everything, I was gone, both physically and mentally,” he confesses.

He himself recounted in his own documentary, released on the same platform in November 2023, how his addictions, coupled with an attitude that didn’t fit in with a boy band, led him to leave the group in July 1995, just weeks before a tour that went ahead without him. Six months after his departure came the announcement of the group’s dissolution, and the darkest period for Gary and Howard began, as they themselves now reveal in the documentary, directed by David Soutar, who also helmed Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All.

“I was headed for a deep depression. I decided to go to the Thames, with the state of my mind at that time… I even seriously considered jumping in. But I’m too much of a coward to do it,” Howard recalls.

Gaz (as Gary is also known) took a little longer to hit rock bottom. Right after the band broke up, “my ego was bigger than ever,” and he was the first to release a solo song. Shortly afterward, Robbie released his first single, and thus began a rivalry between the two that ended with the latter’s victory — musically speaking — and with Gary without a record label and suffering from eating disorders. “Robbie took advantage of the media attention and gave the press something to talk about. That’s when he started to hurt me, and there was no need to. That’s when I experienced my first negativity, a very strong and tremendously negative feeling,” Gary remembers.

Next, footage shows a press conference where his then-nemesis uttered gems like Gary’s single “isn’t my style, or anyone else’s,” and when asked which other Take That members would be successful, Robbie replied: “Jason could be a huge success as a painter and decorator.” “My only problem was always Gary. I wanted to destroy him. I wanted to ruin the memory of the group. And I never stopped, even when he had nothing, I kept going,” Robbie is heard saying.

“I spent about 13 months without leaving the house. On top of that, I started gaining weight. And the more weight I gained, the fewer people recognized me. And I thought: it’s okay, this is what I wanted, a normal life. So I had a new mission: any food I saw, I devoured. I killed the pop star,” says Gary, recalling that period when his American adventure also failed.

“I ended up hating Robbie, just jealous of his success,” Howard recalls. “And the fact that he never stopped mocking me, and that he didn’t stop succeeding, made it worse. I wanted to see him fall.” Because only Robbie Williams was truly successful as a solo artist, and in a big way.

It was in 2005 that the four of them reunited for a documentary. That first reunion of Gary, Howard, Mark, and Jason kicks off the third episode, which covers apologies, redemption, and their return to the charts and the stage. The success of the documentary led to an offer to reunite for a nostalgic tour, although without Robbie or the manager who launched them to stardom.

“Nigel had decided that for us to succeed, he had to get inside our heads and control us. He hated anyone who questioned his power. I think he thought that if we got too close, things wouldn’t work out. That’s how he made us all feel insecure,” Jason recalls. “The first time, we were a business, and the manager had us under his thumb. This time, we chose our own manager and all our own people. Now we were in charge,” adds Jason, who recalls that, at first, he was told not to bother singing, just to dance. “Nigel was quite intimidating, even for me, and I was his main henchman,” Gary admits.

“When I joined the group, I didn’t need anyone. I didn’t need help singing, writing, or even believing in myself. When we got together in 2005, I was in such a terrible place that I needed everyone. I needed shoulders to lean on and everyone’s presence. Honestly, that was really the first time I felt like I belonged in Take That. That’s when the band really started for me,” Gary confesses. The reunion led to new songs, and with The Circus Tour (2009), they filled stadiums once again.

But one wound remained open, and it had a name: Robbie Williams. It was on a trip to New York in September 2009 to celebrate Mark Owen’s bachelor party that the five reunited in a studio. And there, they laid their past grudges and problems bare. “I never would have imagined that the most insecure and sensitive person in the group was Robbie. And I feel incredibly guilty for not realizing it sooner,” explains Gary. From that meeting came an album and a tour, this time with Robbie.

“It was wonderful for us that he came back. We were able to forgive each other, reflect, and enjoy ourselves together. And that will stay with us forever,” says Mark. But after The Progress Tour, it wasn’t just Robbie who left (which was expected): Jason announced that he no longer wanted to continue. Only three remained, and the curious thing is that this is the longest-lasting lineup variation. “We’re not those kids anymore, but we’re still selling tickets and we’re ambitious,” says Howard.

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