Gary Barlow is going solo next year for a string of intimate UK tour dates
GARY BARLOW is leaving TAKE THAT – but he’s not doing a ROBBIE WILLIAMS or JASON ORANGE.
I can reveal the singer is going solo next year to play a series of “intimate UK gigs” during a lull in his Take That commitments.
It’s the second time he’s gone out on his own since the band re-formed in 2005.
But this time there will be no solo album to coincide with the tour.
A band insider said: “Gary loves gigging, it’s his passion.
“With no huge Take That commitments at the start of 2018 he’s going to fill the void by going on a solo tour. He wants to play theatres and intimate venues rather than arenas.”
Gary got the bug for smaller venues after Take That’s intimate show at Camden Roundhouse in 2015.
He was also impressed by the sound quality and atmosphere at the Manchester Opera House last month for the opening night of Take That musical, The Band.
His previous solo tour in 2014 saw Gary play 18 dates, to coincide with his solo album Since I Saw You Last.
Take That’s ninth album is scheduled for next year.
And in 2019, Gary, HOWARD DONALD and MARK OWEN will embark on their biggest tour ever to mark the release of their Greatest Hits and their 25th anniversary.
But as I revealed last month, neither Robbie nor Jason will join them.
Indeed, Gary told me during the band’s Bizarre Life podcast that they have given up on Jason ever returning.
SEEING DOUBLE 8 celebs with doppleganger kids – including Gary Barlow, Kate Hudson and Gordon Ramsay
He said: “At the end of the day you’ve got to accept someone doesn’t want to do what you’re doing any more.”
Clearly Gary doesn’t need his company anyway.
READ ON FOR THE REST OF DAN WOOTTON'S BIZARRE COLUMN
Sam has a reason to smile
SAM SMITH is back with new music.
And he’s also got a fresh romance on the go, too.
The Brit superstar was snapped kissing hunky Aussie actor BRANDON FLYNN in New York.
Sam, who released new single Too Good At Goodbyes last month, held hands with the star of hit US drama 13 Reasons Why as they walked around bohemian quarter Greenwich Village.
The Oscar-winner will be hoping he finds love again after confessing he nearly quit music in 2015 after being dumped.
In an interview with ELTON JOHN last month, he said: “My team had to force me to get into the studio, because I almost felt as if I didn’t want to do it any more. So, there were moments on there where it got a bit intense and I started to lose myself.”
In 2016 he split with model JAY CAMILLERI and ex-Hollyoaks star ANDY NEWTON LEE.
It’ll be interesting to see if Brandon is in the audience when Sam appears on Saturday Night Live this weekend.
Taboo pays for Tom
TOM HARDY has become one of acting’s biggest stars and he’s ensured he gets a pay packet to match.
Indeed, the Mad Max and Inception star doubled his own salary for dark BBC drama Taboo – despite the series failing to win rave reviews.
Paperwork for his firm Hardy Son & Baker reveals he’s enjoyed a £560,000 windfall in two years for his work on the show. And accounts for Taboo Productions, the firm behind it, reveal he paid himself £240,000 as a director of the firm plus £320,000 for acting in the series.
The new figures take his total earnings from the series and firm Hardy Son & Baker to just over £1million – even though Taboo lost £2million in production costs.
But a source insisted: “This is a series with serious overheads, but the hope is it will make a profit long-term when sold abroad.”
Taboo was screened earlier this year with Hardy playing villainous James Delaney. It got mixed reviews, but BBC bosses have commissioned a second series.
Tom’s big paydays show no sign of slowing down.
BIZBIT
IF anybody can pull off HUGH HEFNER’s smoking jacket and pipe it is JARED LETO. Just days after the Playboy founder’s death, Oscar-winner Jared has been signed up by director Brett Ratner to play Hef in a new biopic.
Fergie's off the scales
FERGIE has given The Little Mermaid a futuristic revamp.
The former BLACK EYED PEAS singer showed off her lady lumps in a skintight, silver fishtail dress in this amazing snap during promo for her brilliant new Double Dutchess album.
Fergie also channelled Ariel's famous red hair in another snap where she wore a black catsuit covered in scales.
The star is currently in Paris being looked after by KIM KARDASHIAN's former bodyguard Pascal Duvier, a year since the reality was held at gunpoint and robbed of millions in her hotel room.
Fergie would have a tough time escaping trouble in this outfit.
Kate 'never fancied Leo'
Speaking on ITV’s LORRAINE yesterday, Hollywood star Kate denied having the hots for the heart-throb while they filmed the 1997 blockbuster.
She said: “For Leo and I it was seven months of very intense work, we were both very young. And luckily, and this was the fortunate thing, we never fancied each other.
"I know that’s really annoying to hear, sorry. We really never did.
“So it did mean that we were able to have this… to be able to tease each other, which we still do, which is really amazing.”
Kate also revealed she practised accepting a Best Actress gong using the Oscar EMMA THOMPSON keeps in her loo.
Confidence was never an issue then.
BIZBIT
LOVE Island's KEM CETINAY and CHRIS HUGHES have released their debut single Little Bit Leave It - and its already hit No1 on the UK iTunes chart. The reality TV pair have overtaken SAM SMITH and LITTLE MIX.
Vic is full of beans
THEY say you are what you eat – so LADY VICTORIA HERVEY must have scoffed an awful lot of baked beans.
The socialite stepped out in her most outrageous outfit yet as she wore a £2,000 Heinz Baked Beans can dress at the Saatchi Gallery in London on Monday.
I think this could be the start of a tasty new trend.
BIZMETER: MAGS
- CINDY CRAWFORD might be one of the world’s most famous models but she can’t pull off a decent selfie. She told Grazia: “All of my daughter’s friends, they know their good angle, they’re much more sophisticated about that. I still can’t figure out the selfie thing – maybe it’s just because I’m not 16.”
- KIMBERLEY WALSH and CHERYL are still besties years after GIRLS ALOUD went their separate ways – and they’re hoping their sons will be just as close. Kimberley told Star: “The boys are getting to know each other, but Cole is trampling all over Bear at the moment. I’m like, ‘Get off!’ They’re good together.”
- BRIAN McFADDEN has opened up about his darkest days in WESTLIFE by admitting a secret gambling habit left him “totally nuts”. Speaking to Woman, he said: “A lot of people turn to addiction in this business. Luckily for me, it wasn’t drink or drugs. I spent a lot of time in casinos just looking for that rush.”
- ADELE and TAYLOR SWIFT have boycotted streaming services during their careers. Now ALFIE BOE and MICHAEL BALL could follow suit. Alfie told Music Week: “The convenience of an online purchase is very cold. Somebody making the effort to go into a shop and get the physical copy is really special.”