Gary Barlow explains how he and Robbie Williams went from rivalry to ‘relaxed’

Gary Barlow has insisted there’s ‘no rivalry’ with former Take That bandmate Robbie Williams, 30 years after their infamous fallout.

After the band formed in 1990, five years later Gary and Robbie had a highly publicised bust up, which resulted in the latter leaving Take That.

Over the years the pair have spoken publicly about their at times fraught relationship but have since made amends – even getting back into the studio together recently.

This morning, Take That – whose current line-up consists of Gary, Mark Owen and Howard Donald – announced they were bringing back their mammoth The Circus tour.

The 2009 event saw the band break records, with The Circus becoming the fastest selling tour in UK history and playing to over 600,000 fans.

Speaking to Metro at the launch announcement, Gary discussed recently reuniting with his former bandmate to collaborate on a song for his upcoming solo album Britpop.

Gary Barlow has spoken about working with Robbie Williams again (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/ Getty Images) The performer said they no longer have a ‘rivalry’ (Picture: Kate Green/ Getty Images for Universal Pictures)

‘We’re always in touch, you know,’ Gary explained.

‘There definitely was, back in our time, a bit of rivalry, but those days are well over and it’s now a very relaxing experience.

‘He’s obviously a great writer and we vibe off each other and it’s fun. It really is.’

In his self-titled Netflix documentary that was released last year, Robbie spoke about wanting to make Gary ‘pay’ after their 1995 bust-up.

In one scene, he was watching archive video footage with his daughter Theodora Rose, 10, who asked him who he ‘hated most in the band and why?’

‘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 by having the career that he was supposed to have,’ he said.

Robbie left Take That in 1995 (Picture: Tim Roney/ Getty Images) He and Gary have had a rocky relationship at times (Picture: Pete Still/ Redferns)

Meanwhile Gary had previously said on the High Performance podcast: ‘It’s a funny one, the Rob thing. It’s always a scary thing to talk about. I’m never comfortable talking about anyone. I always think they should have their own say. But he’s not here, so I can probably talk about it semi-freely.

‘My friends were Jason and Howard. We were the older ones, we got on. Mark and Rob were always a bit removed from us – they were the younger, cooler ones, they were the naughty ones.

‘So, it wasn’t like Jason or Howard leaving the band. It was Rob, we’ll be fine. I think we all look back on that period and think, “God, Rob wasn’t even 16 when he joined the band.” I’m thinking, at 19 [years old] being told I’m brilliant and who I’d become. He was being told that from 16 years old.’

Robbie later briefly rejoined the band in 2010, saying at the time: ‘I get embarrassingly excited when the five of us are in a room. It feels like coming home.’

They’ve now collaborated together for a song on Robbie’s next album, Britpop (Picture: Marc Piasecki/ Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

At an event for his upcoming album Britpop in August, Robbie, 51, shared the inspiration behind one of the singles, also revealing he co-wrote it with Gary, 54.

‘It’s great because that particular track is a song made by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow about Morrissey,’ he said.

Joe Lycett, who was hosting the event, replied: ‘I thought, I want to see what the Morrissey song’s about, and it’s it surprised me because it’s really tender and you’re very considerate about him in a way that I wouldn’t be.’

In response to this, Robbie replied sincerely: ‘The reason I’m considerate about him is because I’m writing it from the point of view of a stalker.

‘So it’s, it’s somebody that’s stalking Morrissey and is completely obsessed and in love with him.’

Robbie’s album is set to be released in February, with his bandmates then hitting the road for their The Circus tour a few months later.

The current Take That members – Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Gary Barlow – are hitting the road again soon (Picture: Tristan Fewings/ Getty Images for ABA) They are bringing The Circus tour back (Picture: Pete Still/ Redferns)

Originally staged in 2009, The Circus Live broke UK records as the fastest-selling tour in history, with over 600,000 tickets sold in under 5 hours, and over one million fans attending the sell-out shows across the UK and Ireland.

After 17 years, fans can relieve the spectacular – or snap up tickets they might have missed out on in the first place.

‘The Circus tour was one of our favourite experiences as a band and, in the years since, we’ve talked many times about how much we’d love to do it again one day,’ the trio said.

‘Well, that time has come! We’re so excited to welcome audiences old and new across the UK and Ireland to the spectacle of The Circus Live next summer. See you out there!’

Tickets for The Circus go on sale on Friday September 26 at 9.30am from tickemaster.co.uk, www.gigsandtours.com and takethat.com. Take That’s forthcoming tenth studio album will be released in late 2026.

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