Howard Donald, a member of Take That, has opened up about his intense dislike for former bandmate Robbie Williams in a new Netflix documentary. The three-part series, simply titled Take That, features Donald speaking frankly about Williams' 1995 exit from the band and the solo stardom that followed.
In the documentary, Donald, 57, discussed how Gary Barlow's solo ventures failed to match Williams' success. He said: 'I saw the s*** that Gary went through, when you are a solo singer and you stop selling, you are going to get pointed at and have the p*** taken out of you.' Donald added: 'I just didn't like what Robbie had become. It was quite hurtful because Gary was my mate and I was obviously going to stick up for Gary. I just felt a lot of hatred towards Robbie.'
Donald admitted to feeling jealousy over Williams' achievements: 'Maybe jealousy of his success, and the fact he was taking the p*** and getting more and more successful, it made it even worse. You want to see them fall down, you want to see them fall on their a***.'
Gary Barlow, 54, reflected on Williams' meteoric rise after the release of 'Angels': 'He was just untouchable from that moment. I remember being sat there thinking, 'Well, that's it. I can't catch that. How am I going to do that?'' Barlow attempted a solo career in America but admitted: 'It started to dawn on me nothing is happening here.' He confessed: 'I was incredibly competitive so yeah, I think I was jealous, yeah. You know, where Rob's got to, it's just too big.'
Mark Owen, 53, observed: 'I think Gary was like a casualty of Robbie's success. Gary was going to be the big star. The next George Michael. But it wasn't, it was Robbie.' Take That, formed in 1990, achieved 12 UK number one singles and sold over 45 million records globally before splitting in 1996 following Williams' departure. The band reunited 10 years later.
The Netflix documentary, launching on January 27, features previously unseen archive material spanning more than 35 years. It traces Take That's journey from Manchester to global fame and is described by Netflix as 'the deeply personal and definitive story of Take That'.
