Gary Barlow has shared that he's been feeling both 'sad' and 'joyous' weeks after Take That's comeback tour came to its end.
Originally staged in 2009, The Circus Live broke UK records as the fastest-selling tour in history, selling over 600,000 tickets in under five hours and attracting over one million fans to sell-out shows across the UK and Ireland.
The Circus Live 2026 Tour
The Circus Live 2026 tour saw Howard, Gary and Mark reboot the tour of the same name from 2009, and one of the band's most celebrated live productions, which featured fire-breathers, stilt-walkers, clowns, acrobats, tap dancers, and a 30-foot-tall mechanical elephant.
Jason Orange, who took part in the original 2009 tour, was not present in this tour after he left the band in 2014. Take That are also set to release their 10th studio album later this year, with songs You're A Superstar and Sweet July already being released.
Take That were formed in 1990, with the original line-up also including Robbie Williams. The group have had 12 singles reach number one on the Singles Chart and are the most successful boy bands in UK chart history.
The stadium run, which featured a string of the band's biggest hits, began at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium in May and continued across the UK, including four epic homecoming shows at Manchester's Etihad Stadium, before officially ending in Dublin on Saturday night (July 4).
Barlow's Emotional Reaction
He said: 'Hey everybody, GB here. I've been trying to make this video for a few weeks, and it's not been easy. I must say that this tour has thrown me slightly.'
'Whenever we come off tour, it always feels a little bit of an anti‑climax… but for some reason, I don't know whether it was just because it just felt so celebratory doing the circus again and it seems to have gone down so well that it just feels like I've completely fallen off a cliff since the end of the show.'
He added: 'It's a really funny one. I don't know whether it's because as the years go by and the tours become more and more important to us or to me anyway.'
'I'm always sad at the end of a tour and particularly this one. I just thought it was absolutely joyous, the whole thing, and I'm fully aware of how much everybody enjoyed it, and we did have our questions.'
'However, we didn't need to worry about a thing because it all went great. Everybody survived. A great time was had, and we are able to move onwards with smiles on our faces and our hearts full of happiness. It was just brilliant.'
Howard Donald's Reflection
Howard shared a similar sentiment as he reflected candidly on his emotions once the tour came to an end. As he shared pictures from the tour, he gushed over the come back.
He wrote: 'PTB (post tour blues) is a thing and takes a while to disappear for some of us (especially me) takes a hold on you and your body craves to move and doesn't want to stop performing even though your body hurts and your throat is done! You crave the hotels, travel and cities along the way and crave being away from the energy of your children, but at the same time love when they come on tour. We are well looked after by our Linda!'
'But the reality is after a tour, your body starts going into a coma and says don't you dare stretch, dance or lift anything! You also have to go back into full parent mode when you are slightly depressed about the tour finishing. The end is never a nice thing to look forward to because your brain says, "Why can't I have more more more rather than ending something on top?"'
'The love, energy and pure excitement on the faces in the crowd is hard to shake and stays etched into your brain when you close your eyes at night. You run through the routines and the show in your mind, and look at the time, thinking this is what I would be doing now! The rush of being out of breath and sweating coming off stage! What a drug!'
