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Gary Barlow says TV venture stemmed from ‘wanting to play music again’

Gary Barlow’s latest TV show was born out of his desperation to “play music again with human beings”.

The 50-year-old pop star – who rose to fame as part of Take That – starred on ‘I’m With The Band’ alongside Jamie Cullum, James Bay, Mica Paris and Tom Fletcher, and Gary has admitted he relished the challenge of playing new versions of classic songs, having spent so many months stuck at home amid the pandemic.

Speaking about how the show came to fruition, Gary shared: “I’d love to tell you that I’m this executive that comes up with great ideas … but I’ve got to be honest, it started very selfishly by wanting to play music again with human beings in a room.”

Gary and the other musical stars recorded the show amid the lockdown, but the chart-topping singer still loved the experience of performing after so long.

He told BBC Radio 2: “We just came up with the playlists ourselves. We got in a room and we played our hearts out – and it was fantastic!”

Meanwhile, Gary recently admitted that overeating makes him feel “depressed”.

The pop star revealed that he avoids eating too many carbs and limits his alcohol intake in order to stay in shape.

He shared: “I try to eat really healthily. And because I had an eating disorder in the 2000s I’m not one for having two plates of chips. It makes me feel depressed, and I hate that feeling.

“My wife Dawn has diabetes but the positive is I follow what she’s eating. She stays away from starchy, floury foods and not too many carbs. It’s just having a little bit of knowledge about what works for you.”