Gary Barlow shares 17 stone diet shame as James Corden asks him for weight loss tips
Take That singer Gary Barlow discussed his old eating habits after his pal and Late Late Show host James Corden asked him for dieting tips - admitting he gorged on Chinese takeaways, chips and crisps
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Gary Barlow has opened up about his struggles with food and his mental health in a candid new interview.
Speaking to close friend James Corden, Gary explained how he ballooned to 17 stone after Take That split as he shared how he went through a 'rough period' where he 'lost control of himself'.
The Take That singer, 49, revealed his old eating habits after Late Late Show host James asked him for dieting tips.
Gary admitted in the Zoom call that food gave him "a couple of minutes of a food coma" and took him "out of the real world".
He also revealed he gorged on "Chinese, chips, crisps" and that his diet was more serious than "just losing a couple of stone".
He said it was more of a "condition" he couldn't continue.
He said: "I remember one particular day just thinking: "How have I got here?" I was just so disappointed with myself...
"So it started there for me and I turned my brain on to sorting out what I ate. The trouble is the food I love - Chinese, chips, crisps. They were giving me a couple minutes of a food coma, taking me out of the real world. It's just not good, that...
"So I decided not to have cheat days, and just stay away from those foods. I'd love to have the odd cigarette now and then but I can't. I can't start smoking again."
Gary said he did not have the personality where he could tease himself with "something he loves" - because he just "ended up going down that road again".
The singer said 90 per cent of what he eats are sensible choices, and the other 10 per cent are what he considers to be "fun choices".
James admitted he has realised he has to retrain his mind into thinking "this will be forever now" - after stopping diets and thinking that now he's lost weight he'll do something else.
And Gary advised his pal to buy a food diary, adding "one you'll feel good about holding and keeping on you at all times".
Gary battled bulimia after Take That split and told previously that he "was trying to kill off the popstar", as his weight soared.
Speaking about his rough period, the Rule The World hitmaker said for nine years he just stopped singing.
He said at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2018 he just turned his back on singing.
He said: "I was eating away what a popstar looked like. I was just killing him off. Stopped dying the hair, stopped buying nice clothes, just wanted to look the opposite, physically and mentally."
The talented musician revealed: "2003 – it was the day when I just went, 'no, I’m not having this anymore, I’m going to change. I want to change and I’m determined that this is not who I’ve become'.
"It only took a few years to get that low, but it took me years to get back to who I wanted to be. 10 years probably.
"The fight back up is much harder than the one going down."
He went onto confess on the ITV daytime show: "In some ways it sort of needed to happen.
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