Stepping into Gary Barlow’s shoes

Stepping into the Gary Barlow shoes is Paul Waite.

“In 2006 when the real Take That came back, we looked at the line-up that we had and we thought that we could do a good job. We started researching the current tributes, and we felt that there was nothing there in the market place that was strong enough to be an authentic tribute.

“So we started on the gruelling task of really researching the characters. We spent a long, long time learning the characters. We worked out that the most important thing was to really make sure that we made the characters recognisable and accessible to the audience. You really need to get the personalities.

“It was a case of studying the live DVDs but also looking at the stuff in Gary Barlow’s book. We just needed to go really in-depth for the characters. We sometimes do like a press conference (in character) and you have to react like the characters.

“You get asked to do all kinds of things. I was asked to judge an X-Factor type show. I had to study Gary Barlow’s one-liners that he comes up with on X-Factor. I had them all on my iPod. I had to pull them out for whoever was on stage.”

As for who became whom in the band, it all just slipped into place, Paul says: “The keyboard player resembled Howard. The guitarist resembled Jason. We didn’t even have to have the discussion. It was just taken as a given that people could be made up to look similar. Gary Barlow takes the lead in Take That. I was the leader of the band. I just fell into that role. We never once had the discussion ‘I want to be this character’ or ‘I want to be that character’.

“If I was to delve into Gary Barlow in the past, he would be like a dodgy dad in a disco, but he is a bit more trendy now. I have to work harder now that he is on X-Factor than when he was just in the band. I have to keep up with his hairstyle. My wife said to me ‘I am slightly worried that you are starting to take this just too seriously!’”

More details on www.retakethat.com.