Gary Barlow reveals if he plans to ditch music for presenting as he teases third wine series
Wine enthusiast Gary Barlow says he would be up for making more TV shows.
The Take That frontman, 54, went down a storm with viewers in last year’s Gary Barlow’s Wine Tour, which saw him discover the wines of South Africa along with some of his celebrity friends.
Produced in association with Tourism Australia, Barlow will be joined by the likes of Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Danni Minnogue, Andi Peters, Tim Minchin and John Bishop, as he journeys across the length and breadth of the country, including the viticultural heartland of South Australia.
“Whenever I ask people to do it they all say ‘how did you get this job?’” he laughed to The Standard.
“Australia is an amazing country, it really is. It’s vast and every state is different. I’ve been there a lot actually, especially in the last few years as my daughter lives there so I know it well - well, I thought I knew it well, then when I did this I realised I didn’t know it at all. When I told my Australian friends all the things I’d done, they were like ‘we’ve never done that!’ So I’ve done more than some of the Aussies.”
One definite highlight was stargazing with Keating at the Earth Sanctuary just outside of Alice Springs where the long-time friends got to witness the Milky Way in all its glory under the Southern sky during an astro tour.
"I think the places where we thought we were going to struggle to find stories and things to film definitely surprised us,” he reflected “We were surprised at how many things we were able to do in the Northern Territory, between Alice Springs and Uluru, it was quite a start to the adventure that was.”
And his verdict on Australia’s wine? “Astounding”.
Barlow himself has a range of wines, created in partnership with Benchmark Drinks, and while presenting may be yet another string to add to his bow, he still considers himself first and foremost a musician.
“I’m not a presenter, I’ve never trained in that. It’s sort of a presenter role but I’ve always said even though I know quite a bit about wine now, I don’t want to come across as an expert because I’m not an expert. I thought the best way of approaching this is to be a student. If I’m learning, people at home will learn. It’s funny, we’ve got quite a fanbase for this show now so I can’t wait for them to see this new one.
“I’d love to do more [series]. There’s amazing places that we don’t even know they probably make wine or people have never tasted the wine. They’re actually the places I’m more interested in than the ones we know, you know, all of the standard ones.”
As for the music, Barlow embarks on his solo Songbook Tour later this month, including two dates at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 12 and 13.
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Take That are also set to release a special 30th anniversary edition of their third studio album, Nobody Else, on June 6.
Gary Barlow's Food and Wine Tour: Australia begins on Friday at 2pm on ITV and ITVX.