When Jason Orange announced his departure from Take That in 2014, fans were devastated.
He said he’d spent the ‘greatest years of his life’ with the chart-topping band before declaring, “There have been no fallings out, only a decision on my part that I no longer wish to do this.”
Fans were perplexed as to why the singer would wish to leave the gig that had seen him gather legions of devoted fans worldwide. Jason, now 52, was sure that he would not return.
His comrades Mark Owen, Gary Owen, and Howard Donald are all slated to take the stage at BST in Hyde Park tonight, and several ecstatic ticket holders have tweeted that they hope to see Jason.
However, when Take That explained the star’s 10-year absence, it is doubtful…
Jason Orange’s absence is explained by Mark Owen
Gary, Mark, and Howard Donald continued to perform as a trio after Jason left.
They’ve now spoken out about their friend’s departure from the band, saying that they’re still friends with the dancer, as they are with Robbie Williams, who left the band in 1995.
“I think he felt he didn’t want to do it anymore,” Mark said of Jason’s decision to depart. “However, I’m not going to speak for him.”
“He’s still here, in any case.” “We were trying to figure out who the best joke-teller in the band is the other day when we remembered how Jason always laughed before he got to the punchline,” he told The Times.
Jason’s ‘off the grid’ existence
Gary was said to be desperate for Jason to rejoin Take That.
“Jason isn’t coming back,” the singer previously told The Sun. Take Mark, Howard, and myself for the next few years.”
In 2018, Howard revealed that Jason had ceased answering calls and looked to have gone entirely off the radar in order to live a more “normal life” in the countryside.
“Jason has disappeared.” He is not responding to emails or phone calls. That’s great for him,” he told the panel of Loose Women.
“That’s where he’d like to be. I believe he wants to be a million miles away from this right now.”
The ‘peaceful life’ in the country
Jason was supposed to be living a life away from the spotlight in the Cotswolds since leaving fame.
Little is known about Gary’s personal life, however he has stated, “At the end of the day, you’ve got to accept that someone doesn’t want to do what you’re doing any longer.”
“He wanted to go off and live his life, and I wish him luck if that’s what he wants to do.” He’s spent a significant portion of his life in the band, but he doesn’t want to do it anymore, plain and simple.”
Jason was seen queuing in a dry cleaners in the lovely village of Chipping Norton in 2020.
An informant told the Sun that the former boy bander was house searching in neighboring Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire: “Jason booked into a hotel in Stow and spent the week looking.”
Observed in London
However, Jason was spotted in North London in June of this year.
The singer, dressed casually in a grey cap, blazer, navy trousers, and boots, pushed his bicycle.
It’s unclear where Jason was going, but he didn’t appear to be a million miles removed from the heartthrob fans fell in love with when Take That made their debut in the 1990s.
While he’s unlikely to join Gary, Howard, and Mark in Hyde Park this evening, we’d like to think he’ll tune in to watch the Never Forget stars on TV.
For more news click thebritaintimes.co.uk