Flashback

Take That superfan Natalie Morgan on surviving that split

I first fell for Take That as a 10-yearold, when they appeared on the Saturday-morning TV show Live & Kicking, and I thought, ‘Wow’. Afterwards, I played their album Take That & Party over and over again till it drove my mum crazy. I was drawn to Mark Owen, he was so good looking, and I used to write ‘I love Mark’ all over my exercise books and put Take That stickers on my wardrobe mirror.

At my secondary school in Kent, there were two groups, the Take That fans and the East 17 fans – we didn’t associate with them. In the picture below, I’m celebrating my 13th birthday at home in Strood, holding my Take That cake. I designed it myself, sketching it out on a bit of paper and my great-aunt – who was a cake-maker – made it. My Take That tin, which went everywhere with me, is beside me – I had even scratched ‘Natalie loves Mark’ on to it with a compass.

The day I heard they had broken up, I was heartbroken. It was Tuesday, 13 February 1996, and my mum came into my room with a cup of coffee to wake me up for school. She had been watching GMTV and she had to psych herself up to tell me. I screamed, ‘Nooooo!’, assuming she was lying, and then flew down the stairs and parked myself in front of the TV in my Take That pyjamas, watching the reporter outside Gary Barlow’s house.

At a press conference in Manchester, Gary said gravely, ‘Unfortunately, the rumours are true’ – and I started howling. My mum began to cry too, seeing me so upset. I ran upstairs to my bedroom, which was covered floor-to-ceiling in Take That posters, and lay crying on my bed. I was 13 and inconsolable, it was as if somebody had died.

That same day, a helpline number was announced [set up by the Samaritans] for worried parents. We had a phone by the front door and I remember my mum calling the number, struggling to get through as thousands of other parents phoned up. She said, ‘I don’t know what to do. She won’t stop crying.’ They advised her just to be there and reassure me. I didn’t go to school for the rest of the week – I still felt numb – and for the next few days, I hardly ate, locking myself away in my room, not speaking or seeing anyone.

Over the years, my love for the band has stayed strong. I even took my Mark Owen doll along to my driving test when I was 22 years old. I passed. Afterwards, he stayed on my dashboard as my little mascot.

My mum, Lorraine, was a fan too – I got her into my little Take That Army. When she died last year (on Gary Barlow’s birthday) I organised for Take That’s song Never Forget to be played at the funeral and got everyone doing the actions, waving their arms and clapping in time with the chorus.

I’m 38 now, and when I listen to their music, I no longer feel my age. I’ve been to lots of their reunion concerts over the years, including their virtual lockdown concert in 2020, and watching them makes me feel like a child again. For those few hours, I’m not just a mum (my daughter’s a fan too), I’m a Take That fan. They take away your worries and you can just be free. — As told to Anna Clarke

Below Fan Natalie Morgan took the week off school

Above Take That announce the split, Manchester, 13 February 1996.