Mark Owen admits two bandmates won’t be returning for Take That’s new album and tour next year
TAKE THAT’S long-awaited reunion is just months away – but Robbie Williams will not be returning.
The Rock DJ singer said last month that he was struggling to find the time for the band following the release of his new album XXV, and in an exclusive chat, Mark Owen has said he, Howard Donald and Gary Barlow will be pushing ahead without him.
Mark explained: “I would love for it to happen in the future but I think this next record will be the three of us.
“We don’t need to talk about whether he will come back — it’s like this intuition thing.
“He might — if he knows we are in the studio — come down and get involved somewhere, maybe in the writing, because that’s just how it happens.”
Mark also admitted he was still living in hope that reclusive Jason Orange — who now chooses to live his life out of the spotlight having quit the band in 2014 — would rejoin.
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He added: “I would love the five of us to do something again one day in the future but we don’t know what will happen.”
Referring to the band’s sixth album, Progress, their first to feature the original line-up since Robbie’s 1995 departure, he said: “When [all five of us reunited] in 2010, for us as a band it was really important to make that record.
“To come together and work together for so many reasons, on so many levels — it was really special.
“If anything happens again it will be because everyone really wants to hang out and have fun together and because our diaries have worked out.”
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Aside from the band, this is an exciting time for Mark, who is hoping to land his first solo No1 album with Land Of Dreams today.
Mark was at No2 in the midweek charts with the record, his fifth collection, but faced stiff competition from D-Block Europe — who were leading him by 1,000 sales with their album Lap 5.
He added: “I’m trying not to get too excited about it, but when I got the call to say I was at No2 in the midweeks, I nearly fell off my chair.
“I was thinking about the first song I wrote the other day. It was with my dad.
“I can’t remember the name, but he played guitar and I wrote some lyrics over it. That was probably 35 years ago, so this has been a long time coming.”
Mark relocated to Los Angeles permanently with his wife Emma and their three kids last year after selling their £6.5million Hampshire home.
The move is looking good on Mark and he concedes he has fallen in love with the lifestyle, meaning it is unlikely they will ever return to Blighty for good.
Mark said: “I love that challenge of trying to find your way in a new place. That kind of excites me.
“I’ve been surfing for five years now. I go to the beach maybe once every week — but the big waves in Los Angeles leave me battered.
“I can get up on to the board, just not very gracefully, and not for very long.
“I have tried rollerblading in Miami with Rob. He was quite good at it, but it wasn’t my thing.
“But what I love the most is going to a lot of gigs at the Hollywood Bowl.
“I’ve seen everyone — Tame Impala, Haim, The Black Eyed Peas . . .That’s what made me really want to go up on stage again and to put that energy into a new record.”
Lily grabs attention
LILY JAMES was hands-on at her latest red carpet appearance.
She grabbed her bum and laughed as she posed for snaps at last night’s BFI London Film Festival Luminous gala.
The copper-haired actress looked radiant in a scarlet gown – but was
overheard moaning she had mosquito bites all over her back.
She was joined at the bash by Mission: Impossible star Hayley Atwell and Australian actress Rebel Wilson.
Lily spent months filming the Disney+ series Pam & Tommy, about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s romance.
She was phenomenal in the role, but this week revealed it wasn’t easy.
She said: “It was such a screwed-up process.
“The hours are so long and you feel burnt out.
“Your nervous system is shot to s**t.”
Touts’ Arctic blast
FANS of the Arctic Monkeys may have a fight on their hands when it comes to getting reasonably priced tickets for their upcoming tour.
Pre-sales went live at 9am yesterday and just moments later, many appeared on second-hand site Viagogo for £600.
Previously the band waged war on touts cashing in by cancelling tickets sold on resale sites.
At the time their manager said they were sickened when fans were “fraudulently led to spend large sums on tickets, even when tickets are still available.”
Hopefully they will do the same this time around.
Paloma’s gauze for concern
PALOMA FAITH shows her quirky fashion sense, pairing a sheer black skirt with an oversized leather jacket, white socks and ballet pumps.
The Upside Down singer was posing for the launch of streaming service Lionsgate+ at The Freemasons Hall in central London.
Meanwhile, she has teamed up with US star Teddy Swims to reinvent her 2014 hit Only Love Can Hurt Like This.
Paloma said: “Teddy Swims’ incredible voice on one of my favourite songs I’ve ever recorded – what a privilege and an honour.”
Meghan aims for baby No2
MEGHAN TRAINOR has revealed she is trying for a baby – and is hoping to conceive twins.
The All About That Bass singer is relocating Down Under next month to be a new judge on the reboot of TV singing contest Australian Idol.
But she is hoping to be bigger by the time she goes back to the States – and not only from all of the barbecues.
Meghan, who already has 20-month-old son Riley with actor husband Daryl Sabara, told the Smallzy’s Surgery podcast: “Hopefully on the second half you’ll see a tum tum. I want four and I am banking on twins at this round. I want a farm.”
Meghan revealed she even turned down a Christmas tour to concentrate on getting pregnant.
Last week she told how nurses suggested her use of antidepressants contributed to Riley being transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit soon after his birth.
She said: “They kept asking me if I was on antidepressants during the pregnancy, and I was but on the lowest dose possible, and all my doctors said it was safe and wouldn’t affect him.
“It was really f***ed up.
“They had no name for what was wrong.
“He just wouldn’t wake up.”
Strutting her stuff
POP icon Cher looked incredible as she made a surprise appearance at Balmain’s Paris Fashion Week show.
The Believe singer walked the runway in a latex one-piece to her song Strong Enough, beside designer Olivier Rousteing.
She tweeted afterwards: “Just had the best time on stage . . . Felt great, show was probably best fashion show ever.
“Models were beauty from another universe. Clothes 2 die 4, Olivier 2 die 4. Stage was calling me: Cher . . . Oh Cher . . . Come home – hear you!”
Perhaps a hint there’s a tour around the corner?
Posh’s peace offering
THEIR long-rumoured rift came to a head last week when it was revealed Brooklyn Beckham’s wife Nicola Peltz had refused a chance to publicly make peace with his parents Victoria and David.
But it turns out former Spice Girls star Posh isn’t giving up without a fight and has invited Nicola to sit front row at her Paris Fashion Week show today.
It will be the first time the singer-turned-fashion-designer has shown her collection in Paris and insiders said Victoria hoped all her family would be there, including her husband and their other kids Romeo, Cruz and Harper.
A source said: “Victoria extended the olive branch and asked Brooklyn and Nicola to stay on in Paris and come to her show.
“It would put a stop to the rift rumours and she and the family would love to see him.
“To have him and his wife sitting front row at her first Paris show would put on a united front.”
Brooklyn and Nicola have been in the French capital this week and were spotted at the Balmain show on Wednesday.
A snub would be the ultimate insult to poor Posh.
But given the amount of shade Nicola has thrown her way about her being unable to make her wedding gown, I think Vic’s skin is thick enough to take it.
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I just hope Brooklyn has the sense to smooth things over.
You only get one mum, after all.