Gary Barlow lifts the lid on his drunken first kiss with wife Dawn Andrews – as he admits they worked together for years before embarking on romance

Gary Barlow has lifted the lid on his first kiss with wife Dawn Andrews as he revealed he worked up the courage after a boozy night out.

The Take That star, 53, opened up about his 24-year marriage to the former dancer Table manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware on Wednesdays.

Speaking about dating Dawn – who he married in 2000 and shares children Daniel, 24, Emily, 22, and Daisy, 15 – Gary revealed their first kiss was in the back of a van after a night out.

“We were in Manchester and we’d been to a club and we were all in this van on the way home,” he said.

“We were in the very back of this van, we were sitting right next to each other, I had my arm around her and I just thought, this is it, kids, I’m going in.”

Speaking about dating Dawn – who he married in 2000 and shares children Daniel, 24, Emily, 22, and Daisy, 15 – Gary revealed their first kiss was in the back of a van after a night out

Gary also revealed that he and Dawn had been working together for years before starting a romantic relationship.

Asked how they met, Gary said: “Oh, she was a dancer. I first met her in 1988 when I was called in to make a terrible Virgin video at the time, which was shot across the country, and featured two dancers. She was one of them.

‘And so then we met for a day, without thinking about it any further. Then we bumped into her over the years at Top of the Pops gigs and the Royal Variety and stuff, and then we did a tour in 95 where we had about 20 dancers.”

It comes after Gary revealed why his children chose not to follow in his famous footsteps in a rare comment about his family.

Speak with The mirrorGary said his children are so different from him and despite his own success, have shown no interest in showbiz, choosing an academic career instead.

Saying: ‘The two oldest [Daniel and Emily] I’ve started studying a bit of medicine and physiology – studying strength and conditioning – and for my youngest, Daisy, I’m not sure where she’s going, but again, she’s very eager to learn…unlike me and my wife’, he says.

“I don’t think they will follow in my musical footsteps, but I wouldn’t have discouraged them, but if they had wanted to, it was a good thing for me.

‘Every day I still enjoy what I do and when you realize you’re making a living doing it, it’s a great place to be. Many roles in showbiz are just great. There’s definitely a much harsher world out there than the one I’m in, I think.”

The Take That star, 53, delved into his 24-year marriage to the former dancer on Wednesday’s Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware

“We were in Manchester, we’d been to a club, and we were all in this van on the way home,” he said

Gary shares Daniel, 25 (L), Emily, 22 and Daisy, 15 (R) with wife Dawn Andrews (far right) and has raked in a whopping ‘£90 million fortune’ during his career.

The Shine hitmaker has previously told how ‘proud’ he was of Emily after she decided to go to university for a four-year degree in 2022.

The youngster initially planned to attend higher education in 2020, but her plans were thwarted by COVID-19.

Gary told Zoe Ball on her BBC radio program at the time: ‘They’re quite good, one is at university.

‘One is taking a year off, she was meant to go to university but she doesn’t want to deal with all this, which I completely understand.

“Our youngest is eleven now, which is… well, they’re not really kids anymore. Although, they always are for us.’

He revealed to The Mirror that his children are so different to him and have shown no interest in showbiz despite his own success (pictured with daughter Daisy, R and Emily, L)

On a more somber note, Gary and Dawn lost baby Poppy in 2012 when she arrived stillborn and he recently admitted he had ‘not found peace with it yet’.

On The Imperfects podcast, Gary spoke candidly about his family tragedy, explaining: ‘I don’t talk about this in detail and I literally don’t because I’m still kind of figuring it out.

‘My wife’s emotions were completely different from mine. I’ve been angry about that for a long time, I haven’t really come to terms with it yet.’