Gary Barlow admits he's still angry about his daughter's death
Gary Barlow has confessed that he has "been angry for a long time" about losing his daughter Poppy more than a decade ago. However, he now thinks that the experience has made him stronger.
Poppy arrived stillborn in August 2012 and Barlow admitted on The Imperfects podcast that he was worried about the effect the tragedy would have on his marriage to wife Dawn.
The couple tied the knot in 2000 after meeting when she was a dancer on one of Take That's tours. They have three other children together — two daughters and a son.
Barlow said: "We had a worrying statistic when it happened to us, something like 95% of couples split up when something like that happens to them. I think it comes down to men deal with it differently than the women do. My wife does far better than I do, she’s a much stronger person than I am."
Watch: Gary Barlow says he's still angry about daughter's death
The 53-year-old music legend explained that he doesn't often talk about his experience of loss, and that's partly because he doesn't know how he feels just yet.
"I’m still kind of figuring it out a little bit," said Barlow. "My wife’s emotions were completely different to mine. I’ve been angry for a long time about that, I haven’t really found peace with it yet."
Despite the fact he still carries wounds from the tragedy his family had to endure, Barlow said that his music plays an important role and "keeps her alive for me on a nightly basis".
In fact, Barlow performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, just one week after Poppy's passing.
Elsewhere in the podcast interview, Barlow admitted he was jealous of bandmate Robbie Williams for the success he had as a solo artist after saying goodbye to Take That.
He explained that the downfall of Take That contributed to his struggle with bulimia and disordered eating, which led to him feeling "embarrassed" around his dancer wife.
"I was really good at hiding it. It’s amazing how devious you can become," he said. "I was literally at the point where every meal now I could get rid of it quickly. It wasn’t a time where I could go and see anyone, but I knew it had to stop."
Barlow reunited with the rest of Take That, except for Robbie, in 2005 and the band experienced even more success than they had in the 90s.
The group had four rapid-fire top 10 hits in the first two years after their reunion, with Patience and Shine both reaching number one. Williams eventually returned to the group for the 2010 album Progress and its subsequent tour, though has only performed sporadically with them since.
Barlow has continued to work with Take That — now a three-piece after the departure of Williams and Jason Orange — while also releasing solo work, including a Christmas album and his one-man show A Different Stage.
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