When you think of pop stars living it large on tour you don’t tend to imagine them settling down to a nice game of bingo. But that’s exactly how members of Take That choose to unwind in their spare time.
Take That use bingo to help them unwind
Having apparently grown out of wild parties and too much boozing, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald have been drawn to bingo as a way to relax and enjoy some down time with their dancers, musicians and crew. The group, who became huge in the 1990s and are now working as a trio following the departure of Jason Orange in September, are currently on a UK arena tour before hitting the continent later in the year. Frontman Gary told Free Radio: “We’ve got a big cast with us, as you’ll see, we’ve got 20 dancers, eight-piece band. So what we try and do on days off is organise little events. We’ll do a quiz night one night, just nice communal events to get everyone together. But we did bingo the other night and it went down a storm.” In fact, before finding fame with Take That 44-year-old Gary started out his showbiz career as a bingo caller and so knows all the famous calls, much to players’ delight. He is even reported to own his own bingo machine. 
Perhaps surprisingly, this isn’t the first time the lads’ fondness for bingo has hit the headlines. When Gary Barlow and his wife Dawn celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary back in 2010, they did so by hosting a game of bingo at London’s Mandarin Oriental hotel. The event was attended by a swarm of celebrities including of course Mark and Howard as well as the likes of Lulu, Denise Van Outen, Ronan Keating and Alesha Dixon. So, it looks like the sold-out shows and packed arenas won’t be the only full houses the Take That boys will be witnessing this year!