Gary Barlow to stage Take That reunion for Let It Shine finale… but Jason Orange won’t be there
GARY BARLOW was so keen to ensure new BBC show Let It Shine was a hit that he went topless in the opening seconds.
But now he’s resorting to even more impressive measures to keep viewers tuned in — by staging a TAKE THAT reunion for the finale.
And yes, that means ROBBIE WILLIAMS is on board.
But fans hoping for a full house will be disappointed, as JASON ORANGE has shown no interest in teaming up again with his old bandmates Gary, Robbie, HOWARD DONALD and MARK OWEN.
But Gary hopes they can perform as a four-piece before making way for the BBC1 show’s winners, who will play a fictional boyband in Gary’s West End musical, The Band.
Our source said: “Gary wanted to finish off Let It Shine with a bang and he thought a Take That reunion to close the show was the perfect way to achieve it.
“The idea is that it would also set the stage nicely for the musical to follow.
"Robbie seems very keen to get on board, so things are looking good.
"But in the end, Gary decided not to even ask Jason.";
Related stories
“He felt the chances of him doing it were so non-existent that it wasn’t worth the effort.
"Jason just isn’t interested now, he has his own life away from Take That.
“With him out of the picture, Gary is pouring his energy into making sure their reunion as a four-piece is a huge success and blows the audience away.”
So far we’ve enjoyed Let it Shine, which has seen Gary team up with MARTIN KEMP, DANNII MINOGUE and guest AMBER RILEY, who was replaced on last night’s panel by LULU.
It’d be a real coup to have Take That perform on the show.
We can’t wait to see what the lads pull out of the bag.
Fingers crossed it’ll be those kinky leather outfits from their early days.
She's Ora over Diplo at bash
RITA ORA has set pals’ tongues wagging after growing close to producer DIPLO.
Their very flirty display at one bash had friends convinced a romance could be brewing.
The iHeart Radio Ball in New York ended with a messy after-party in a hotel room where the duo, left, surrounded by pals including CHARLI XCX and MO, were “very touchy feely”.
Our source revealed: “After that party people were talking about how flirty Rita and Diplo had been. At one point she did a sexy dance for him while he filmed her and she had dollars placed in her trousers by pals.
“Clearly neither of them thought that was anything to hide as Diplo uploaded it to his Snapchat feed immediately.
“They’ve known each other for a long time and have worked on tracks together, but this was a pretty wild night so everyone was being overfamiliar and cheeky with one another.
“Rita spent a lot of time with Diplo and they seemed to have a particularly sparky chemistry. They are free-spirited and flirty so nobody is expecting them to become a serious couple.”
A lot of that night in December was documented on Instagram and Snapchat. One snap of Rita crouched under Diplo’s DJ booth prompted a fan to tweet: “Was Rita grabbing Diplo’s d*** in Charlis last snap???” Oh my.
While a separate source assures us that Rita and Diplo are just mates, we can only imagine the chaos these two party-lovers caused that night.
A bra-vo for Ryan
RYAN REYNOLDS proved what a good sport he is when named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding’s Man of The Year.
The American uni’s theatre club subjects recipients of this award to a series of stunts.
Ryan had to lap-dance, wear a Deadpool-style bra, get kissed by panto dames and was teased for his flop film Green Lantern.
Just as long as no one mocked his sitcom Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place. We won’t hear a bad word against it.
Cazza: Isle be loving it
CAROLINE FLACK is gearing up for her first big acting role so she was no doubt keen to get tips from more seasoned pros at the pre-Baftas Instyle EE Rising Star party.
The Love Island host is to play the lead in musical Bonnie and Clyde – but first has the ITV reality show’s mini revamp to prepare for.
She told us: “I’ll be on screen much more, on the island much more, I can’t wait.”
One huge star at last week’s bash was American actress KATE BOSWORTH, who posed for a snap with Emma, right, despite her agent rudely telling others to “back off”.
She told us: “I’m excited for the Baftas and Oscars. EMMA STONE has it in the bag.”
We much prefer entourage-free celebs like our Cazza but are prepared for the onslaught of US publicists next week for Sunday’s Baftas (on BBC1 at 9pm) if it means getting to see RYAN GOSLING in person.
He’ll be down for a tap-dance on the dancefloor at the always good fun The Weinstein Company after-party, right?