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Boys to Men

• Kim Lenaghan
• 12 Oct 07, 01:44 PM

As Take That take to the stage of the Odyssey Arena it¡¯s great to know that not only have they re-lit the fire under their own careers but rekindled the girlhood memories of thirty something (and older!) women everywhere.

I won¡¯t get a chance to see them this time round, but I did go to the gig they played in Belfast last year and they were fantastic¡­.and that was in the early days of their comeback. I have some friends who were at last night¡¯s concert and today, despite being hoarse and hungover, they were like trilling teenagers, hormones racing ¨C either that or they were having hot flushes, at our age it¡¯s hard to tell the difference.

As for the lads themselves, they may be more of a middle aged man band than a boy band these days but, by all accounts, they still have all the moves. Indeed someone I know very well, whose anonymity I am going to preserve here for the sake of her professional reputation and describe her simply as ¡°sources close to Take That¡± was very ¡°phwoarrrrrr!¡± about how they were looking backstage, particularly Gary Barlow. To quote my source ¡°Small, but perfectly formed and very well toned!¡±

And better yet, no longer is this just any old former boy band ¨C it¡¯s an M&S former boy band. Yes, Take That are the male equivalent of Twiggy, Erin O¡¯Connor and co, modelling this season¡¯s new look. Now, I can see why Marks & Spencer would want them and why they would want to do it, but I¡¯m still not entirely convinced that it isn¡¯t rather ¡®uncool¡¯. Let¡¯s be honest, love him or hate him, you can¡¯t ever imagine Robbie modelling a ¡®Marksy¡¯s¡¯ cardie.

They do look very mean, moody, sexy and unshaven in the big in-store displays though, and the reality of whether they¡¯re still cool and desirable or not will be if those posters start to go missing. I can see it all now¡­. dozens of women of ¡®a certain age¡¯ wandering out into Donegall Place with strange, rectangularly shaped hips because they have Take That posters shoved down their knickers. God help the store detectives.

PS: Would somebody please nick me a Howard!

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