Take That star Gary Barlow used the surname Smith to avoid embarrassment as his solo career dived.
As his former bandmate Robbie Williams topped the charts, Gary’s fortunes went in the opposite direction. And in the late 1990s, he even ordered credit cards with the fake name.
Gary says: “I was on the phone one day, ordering towels, and the girl asked for the name on the card. She said, ‘Er, Gary Barlow? Me and my mum went to see Robbie in concert. What an entertainer… amazing’.
“So I changed my name on all the credit cards.”
Gary, who is now 51 and back in demand as both a solo star and with Take That, ended up bingeing on food, drink and drugs – and couldn’t even face his own reflection.
He adds: “Robbie is counting his hits in a big house in Beverly Hills and I was getting no invitations. I’d walk down the street and someone would yell, ‘Hey Gary, Robbie’s doing well, isn’t he?’ I’d walk past a building site and they’d sing Let Me Entertain You. A guy doesn’t want to see himself go through this so I took down all the mirrors.”
Gary, who is back on good terms with Robbie, 48, made the revelations as he launched his new one-man West End show, A Different Stage.
In his autobiography – which has the same name and is out now – he also discusses hating his first name, and says: “Kids should be protected from it.”
