Howard reveals how he hid his relationship at the peak of his boyband's fame and now apologizes to his then-girlfriend for putting her through the ordeal.
- Oct 26, 2023
AceShowbiz - Howard Donald hid his girlfriend during his heyday with Take That. The 55-year-old pop star found fame alongside Gary Barlow, Jason Orange, Mark Owen, and Robbie Williams as part of the multi-million-selling boyband in the early 1990s but revealed that he felt so "on edge" about having his love life made public back in the day that he would go to great lengths to conceal his relationship at the time.
"I have to apologise to one of my girlfriends. When I turned up with my girlfriend at the house, I used to get her on the back seat, duck down in between the seats and put a blanket over her," he said on the "Take That: This Life" podcast.
"I'd drive up the back and I had these steps leading down to where the house was. I'd go down and talk to the fans purposefully so they disappeared - then she could come down and come into the house. You were so on edge about having a girlfriend."
The "Back for Good" hitmaker - who has been married to Katie Halil since 2015 and has Bowie, seven, and six-year-old Dougie Bear with her but also has Grace, 25, and 18-year-old Lola from previous relationships - went on to apologise to Christine and regrets that she had to endure such a time.
He said, "Honestly, in my head, I thought I am going to behave for a few years. I thought, 'Have I got enough money to build a tunnel that goes through the wall and to where the car park is?' I'm apologising now. Sorry, Christine, that I had to put you through that."
