Gary Barlow's Take Fat agony - The Sun

GARY Barlow has revealed he suffered severe depression after Take That split.

The judge, 40, piled on five stone, refused to sing and disguised himself so nobody would recognise him.

He also spent days lying UNDER his "lucky" white song-writing piano after the hits dried up.

Gary said: "I was living in Cheshire, going to London and back on the train. I used to heavily disguise myself, with a hat and everything. I was overweight, I wasn't feeling great.

"I was embarrassed to be me, to have people recognise me."

He added: "I used to crawl under my piano and spend days just looking at it, lying underneath it, going slowly insane."

His torment lasted three years as his solo career stalled while ex-bandmate Robbie Williams became a superstar.

It was only when Take That reformed in 2006 that he felt "valid again".

Gary added: "That day was the first time in years I got on the train, took my hat off and just sat there. People were coming up and being so nice."

ADVERTS filled more than a fifth of X Factor's first live show with a total of eight promotion breaks.

There were more than 30 minutes of ads during the 7.30pm to 10pm show on ITV1 on Saturday, leaving less than two hours for the actual programme.

Sometimes viewers saw just seven minutes of live performances before the next four-minute ad break cut in.