Gary Barlow : I know just what Ant’s gone through
TAKE THAT star Gary Barlow today sends a public message of support to troubled TV presenter Ant McPartlin.
Barlow says McPartlin – currently in rehab after being charged with a drink-driving offence – has the backing of the country and can rebuild his career again.
In an interview with today’s Event magazine, Barlow – who, l i ke McPartlin, has suffered from depression – says: ‘It’s hell when you are in it because you can’t see a way out. And when you have the whole world watching it makes it three times worse, because you can’t escape it.
‘But what Ant should know is that he can come out of this. He needs to get well, but he can come back. He needs to know that everyone loves him and that doesn’t just go.
‘When you’re in a bad way, you don’t realise it, but everyone is really rooting for you to get back on your feet. You just have to believe you can do it.’
Ant’s partner Declan Donnelly last night presented the finale of their hit show Saturday Night Takeaway on his own.
It has been reported that while McPartlin, 42, concentrates on his recovery he will miss the upcoming series of both Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Barlow, now 47, suffered his own career setback in the late 1990s when Take That split and his initially successful solo career hit the skids.
At one stage he was drinking, smoking and over-eating his way to 16 and a half stone.
He says: ‘I couldn’t even get hired for a job in panto... no one would take my calls. I just wasn’t wanted. And, in retrospect, I wasn’t an alcoholic or a drug addict, I was someone who was just lost.
‘ What made me start to come back was remembering who I’d been at the age of 11 and what I’d wanted to be. The thing that was still there was the music, and it was getting to that point that started me on the journey back. There’s always the journey back.’
He adds: ‘I hate to see anyone going through a really tough time, and that’s why I sympathise with Ant.’
‘He needs to get well but he can come back’