Take That’s documentary series, titled, Take That, drops on Netflix at the end of the month and sees singer, Mark Owen, reveal the truth about the band’s smash-hit, Shine
13:56, 25 Jan 2026Updated 13:56, 25 Jan 2026
Take That’s Mark Owen lifts the lid on a huge Robbie Williams rumour in the band’s new documentary(Image: Courtesy of Netflix)
Take That’s Mark Owen lifts the lid on a huge Robbie Williams rumour in the band’s new documentary.
After years storming the charts, the Could It Be Magic stars from Manchester are releasing a tell-all series about their time in one of the world’s biggest boybands, which drops on Netflix on January 27.
In the documentary, titled Take That, Mark opens up about his smash-hit track, Shine. The song, which he says almost didn’t make the album, was widely thought to be about Robbie and his battle with depression. The Angels star – who left Take That in 1995 before reuniting with the band in 2010 – has dealt with demons throughout his life, checking into rehab multiple times due to drug and alcohol addiction.
That Take’s Mark Owen says his song, Shine, was not about Robbie Williams(Image: )
READ MORE: Ant McPartlin says ‘the old me doesn’t exist’ as he speaks 10 years after drugs battleREAD MORE: Jesy Nelson’s ex Zion’s shock comments about her emerge after sad split news
Speaking about the track, whose lyrics include: ‘You, you’re such a big star to me. You’re everything I wanna be’, Robbie previously said: “I do believe it was written about me. I did ask Mark when we first got back together, ‘Go on, it’s about me, isn’t it?’ I think it is.”
However, Mark has now revealed that the song isn’t about Robbie, well not just about him anyway. Revealing the truth behind the track in the documentary, he says he had to fight to get Shine on the band’s 2006 comeback album, Beautiful World, before it was ultimately a huge hit.
Fans were convinced Shine’s lyrics about a ‘big star stuck in a hole’ were inspired by Robbie, but Mark insists it’s about everyone in the band. “A lot of people think it’s about Rob,” he says, before admitting: “I think Rob thinks it’s about Rob, so I didn’t want to tell him it wasn’t. It’s about all of us, it’s about me.”
Robbie was convinced the track was about him(Image: BBC RADIO 2)
When Take That reunited in 2006, it was a huge success, but Jason Orange and Mark still missed Robbie. Then they convinced him to come back.
They flew to Los Angeles, but the Robbie they found was not the same slick superstar they’d seen on MTV. He was struggling.
“Robbie was in a funny place at that time,” says Gary Barlow. “He was dressed like Demis Roussos. He looked like a Jedi. He was obviously going through his demons.”
The band decided they needed to have some big conversations to clear the air and move forward. Gary recalls, “I had a lot of stuff I wanted to say to Rob and he had a lot of stuff he wanted to say to me.
“There were things about us not being supportive about his songwriting and about his weight. I called him Blobby instead of Robbie one day, which I shouldn’t have done. In about 20, 25 minutes we’d put to bed things that had haunted us for years.”
* Take That is available on Netflix from Tuesday 27 January
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.