How Take That’s Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald have evolved from baby-faced teenagers to ‘dad band’ trio as they embark on This Life tour

Take That kick off their major UK and Irish stadium tour this weekend in Sheffield following the success of their new album, This Life.

The band’s first world tour was in 1995 – when remaining members Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald looked drastically different.

But the three musicians have transformed dramatically over the years, displaying different looks throughout their decades-long career.

In 2022, Mark, 52, had shocked fans by adopting a mustache and long hair while promoting his solo album.

Gary, 53, meanwhile, saw his weight spiral after Take That split and his second solo album flopped in the late 90s to early 2000s. Before he overtook his diet, he weighed 17 and a half stone at his heaviest.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at how the three band members have changed their looks in recent years…

GARY BARLOW

For mothers up and down the country, he has become a much-admired crush thanks to his charming smile, luscious locks and toned physique.

But that hasn’t always been the case for Gary, with the singer struggling with his weight after Take That split and he was dropped by his solo label.

The singer, who became depressed during the hard period of his career in the late 1990s and began to eat and smoke cigarettes, told how he removed all the mirrors in his house when his weight reached 17.5.

The singer, 51, became depressed during the rough period of his career in the late 1990s and started eating and smoking cigarettes.

Speaking in 2022 during his one-man theater show A Different Stage, seen by Daily StarGary revealed that he received constant jibes from members of the public that fellow Take That member Robbie Williams had a more successful solo career than him.

The star said he then bought a new house and became withdrawn, spending much of his time eating junk food.

He said: ‘One morning I caught myself in the mirror and I thought, “Oh no, I’ve got to do something about this”. So I did, I took all the mirrors down – massive house not a single mirror.’

‘I gained 17 and a half stone, but it’s not all chocolate work, the real heavy lifting here is done a couple of times a week down the road at the local Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet.’

Gary previously opened up about his weight gain during an appearance on Loose Women.

He said: ‘When I put on a lot of weight I just didn’t like myself as much. By the time I decided to lose weight, I would see results and feel better. If the scales are, use them.’

However, he added that it’s important to maintain confidence during a weight battle, advising: ‘I don’t believe in weighing yourself every day and beating yourself up. The body doesn’t work like that.

‘You can’t do anything wrong and be heavier, the body is a bit like the seasons. It changes during the year. So there might be a danger in that’.

Gary secretly struggled with bulimia after the split of his band and previously admitted he ‘tried to kill the pop star’.

He said: ‘Nine years (I stopped singing). Just turned my back on it. I tried to kill the pop star, that’s what I did.

‘I ate up what a pop star looked like. I just killed him. Stopped dying my hair, stopped buying nice clothes, just wanted to look the opposite, physically and mentally.’

Now Gary, who reportedly lost around five stone, and his bandmates are on a vigorous exercise regime ahead of their tour.

Talking to The mirrorGary, Mark and Howard, 55, revealed what their weekly training schedule consists of.

According to the ’90s pop stars, daily magnesium ice baths, F45 training four or five times a week, stretching and a high-protein diet are the tricks to staying young, healthy and fit.

Gary explained his top tips: ‘Move and get out, that’s what my dad used to say. I’ve tried everything, I really have.

‘It’s a mental thing for me and training makes me happy. I see it as a way to clear my mind and in turn make my day better.’

MARK OWEN

In 2022, Mark had shocked fans by adopting a mustache and long hair while promoting his solo album.

Shown on the BBC Breakfast at the time host Sally Nugent couldn’t resist asking the singer about his makeover.

Referring to his Take That days, she asked: ‘Actually you look different. The moustache, how long has it been there?’

Mark replied: ‘It’s probably been there for about four years. It started out as a beard and then my beard got a little patchy on this side. Then we had to go on a trip, and beards can get a little sweaty on a trip…’

He continued: ‘Then it became a moustache, and it stuck a bit. My kids keep threatening to cut it off, they say, “Can we just…?”

He explained his reasoning for keeping the mustache at the time, commenting: ‘I’ve made my artwork. I can’t change the appearance! I made the video. I can’t change my appearance now.’

But the musician, who has long been known as ‘the sweet one’ in the band, has apparently decided to change things again.

Last weekend, Take That fans rejoiced when Mark debuted a “baby faced” look during the band’s appearance on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

The group opened the penultimate episode of the long-running entertainment show with the hit song Shine.

Viewers couldn’t help but notice Mark’s clean shave and new haircut with fans claiming he took them “back to the ’90s.”

Sharing their thoughts on X, formerly Twitter, fans said Mark ‘looked beautiful’ after ditching his facial hair.

They wrote: ‘Glad to see Mark Owen has cleaned up’. Another said: ‘Mark looks so much better!’

One person added: ‘Mark Owen takes me back to my youth after ditching the hideous mustache and getting his curtains back. And I’m here for it.’

HOWARD DONALD

These days, Howard sports a stylish and toned look with a full head of beautiful hair.

But in 2019, he told The Sun how one of his biggest concerns about his appearance has been keeping his head of locks.

The singer admitted he feared he would have been booted from the band if he had started balding.

‘I’ve feared going bald since I was 18, seriously I have. We would have had a new member if I had gotten a bald patch, he said.

Speaking on Paul O’Grady’s Saturday Night Line Up in 2021, the star admitted his fear of going bald was the reason he grew dreadlocks during the boy band’s heyday.

According to Mirrorhe said: ‘When I first started in Take That I thought from that moment, “I really don’t want to go bald”.

‘So that’s one of the reasons I got my dreadlocks. I just kept growing it. And I’ve been doing okay, I’m 53 and I still haven’t lost my hair so it’s all good.

‘I used to get the p*** out of me all the time by Gary (Barlow) about how smelly my hair was, to the point that when I was staying at his house he actually put a plastic cover over his pillow. on the bed that I was lying on!’