Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The day Robbie Take That
Inside story of drugs, booze and jealousy behind fall-out
Robbie was also abusing his body. He later said: “My day-to-day existence was vodka and cocaine for quite some time. I would snort the night away.
“I could not start the day without downing a bottle of vodka. I am grateful to be alive.”
He added: “[But] I had some great times as well, because nobody does all that stuff because it feels horrible.”
Some of those times were his legendary trip to Glastonbury, where he ended up on stage with Oasis.
But he was also hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons – and when Sir Elton John helped get him into rehab, he got himself out.
Leaving Take That had helped relight Robbie’s fire, but it was now raging out of control.
Nigel says: “The issues Rob had when he left would have occurred whether he was in the band or not. It wasn’t the band, or his departure, or me, that caused his problems. It was the pressures of the industry and fame. But he’s a strong character, he’s beaten those demons now.”
Asked what it was like to watch Robbie struggle, Nigel, who sued him for lost commission, says: “I was saddened. You beat yourself up for what you could have done differently.
“It’s easier with hindsight to see where you went wrong.”
Nigel was instrumental in reuniting the other four members – Gary, 49, Jason, 50 Howard Donald, 52, and Mark Owen, 48 – in 2005, and they continue to be successful, despite Jason quitting in 2014.
And Nigel is now happy to see Robbie has turned it all around after marrying US actress Ayda Field, 41, and becoming a dad of four.
He says: “It’s ironic that
Rob left Take That to ‘get off the roundabout’, then he kept working whilst the other lads went off and made a life for themselves. So I was made up when I saw Rob with his wife on The X Factor [The couple were judges on the 2018 series]. She was lovely and I knew he’s going to be OK.”
Robbie later explained his last 24 hours in Take That, describing it as the “hardest professional day of my life”.
He said: “The last few months I was a wreck.
“The night before we all went out. I drank myself stupid. That morning, we rehearsed as normal, but I was drinking an awful lot.
“So when they spoke to me about my attitude I thought they were saying ‘you should leave’. I walked out, left it a couple of seconds and then I jumped in through the door and everybody laughed.
“And then I walked away. They never thought that would be the last time.
“Then I started to cry. I went away an angry young man and I blamed Gary. But the truth is that Take That had two guys who wanted to be the front man.”
Robbie and Gary have reconciled, and Robbie joined Take That for a virtual reunion gig in May.
Nigel designed Take That as the British New Kids on The Block after meeting Gary in 1989. After auditions, vehicle painter Howard, breakdancer Jason, bank worker Mark and football-mad teen Robbie got the jobs. By the time Robbie left, they’d had chart-topping hits in 31 countries, 10 million album sales and several Brit Awards.
Nigel hopes that one day they can put aside bad feelings and reunite.
He explains: “I haven’t really talked to Robbie. My dream would be for all six of us to... meet up one last time. We started off as strangers who turned into family and then lost each other.”
But if Nigel could go back in time, would he still have picked Robbie for the band? There’s no hesitation. “100%,” he says. No Regrets there then.