Take That fans will be hoping he’s back for good - after Robbie Williams reunited with the band for a virtual charity concert.
Williams, 46, who quit the group in 1995, joined Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald as they each performed from their own homes during the coronavirus lockdown on Friday night.
Take That - without Jason Orange who left the band in 2014 - kick started the show with singles Greatest Day and Shine, before being joined by Williams for the rest of the set, which included Back For Good, The Flood, Pray and Never Forget for their impressive finale.
Williams told how performing virtually was “less weird than standing in front of 80,000 people”.
Frontman Barlow, 49, led the lockdown concert from his home studio, which he had kitted out with keyboards and microphones, while Owen appeared to be in the midst of decorating and sang from his garage.
Some fans questioned Owen’s dishevelled image comparing him to Tiger King’s Joe Exotic and Keith Lemon.
In between tracks, the group talked about new skills they had learnt during the lockdown, with Donald, 52, saying he had been reading more than ever before while Owen admitted he had become more sparing with toilet roll use.
The charity stream was hosted by the animated character Aleksandr Orlov, voiced by Alan Partridge actor Simon Greenall, from comparethemeerkat.com - the site which was hosting the concert on its YouTube page.
Proceeds of the gig will go to music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins and Crew Nation, which supports concert crew workers via a relief fund.
And while Williams helped make large sums of cash for good causes with the reunion gig, he insists that he has handed over “f***ing millions” from his £200m lifetime revenue, but has kept his generosity a secret.
The 46-year-old chart topper likened his plight to late artist George Michael, who dished out his sums from his fortune to those less fortunate without fanfare.
Asked by a fan whether he has donated much of his £200m fortune to charity, Robbie told Instagram Live: “Here’s the thing about giving to charity much; if you say you do, people get angry at you for virtue signalling.
“If you keep your mouth shut, people accuse you of not doing something that you have done.
“So it’s sort of a catch 22 situation. The answer is yeah, I have. F***ing millions I’ve given away.
“So there you go, I’ve said it.”
