'I thought, "I've got to do something about this"': Gary Barlow reveals he removed all the mirrors in his house when his weight rose to 17.5st after Take That split 

Gary Barlow has told he removed all the mirrors in his house when his weight reached 17.5st after Take That split and he was dropped by his solo label.

The singer, 51, became depressed during a rough period in his career in the late 1990s and started binge eating and smoking cigarettes.

Speaking during his one-man theatre show A Different Stage, seen by the Daily Star, Gary realed he received constant jibes from members of the public that fellow Take That member Robbie Williams' had a more successful solo career than him.

The star said he then bought a new house and became reclusive, spending much of his time gorging on junk food.

He said: 'One morning I caught myself in the mirror and I thought, "Oh no, I've got to do something about this". So I did, I took down all the mirrors - massive house not one single mirror.'

'I got to 17-and-half stone, but it's not all the work of chocolate, the real heavy lifting here is being done a few times a week down the road at the local Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet.'

Gary then said one evening he got home from the Chinese and decided to make himself sick after eating so much food.

Gary previously spoke candidly about his weight gain during an appearance on Loose Women.

He said: 'When I gained a lot of weight, I just disliked myself so much.

'At the point I decided to lose weight, I wanted to see results and feel better. If the scales are that, use them.' 

He continued though that it's important to maintain slef-confidence during a weight battle, advising: 'I don’t believe in weighing yourself every day and beating yourself up. The body doesn’t work like that.'

'You could do nothing wrong and be heavier, the body is a bit like the seasons. It changes throughout the year. So there’s maybe some danger in that.'

Gary secretly battled bulimia following the split of his band Take That and previously admitted he 'was trying to kill off the popstar'.

He said:  'Nine years [I stopped singing]. Just turned my back on it. I was trying to kill off the popstar, that’s what I was doing.

'I was eating away what a popstar looked like. I was just killing him off. Stopped dying the hair, stopped buying nice clothes, just wanted to look the opposite, physically and mentally.'