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Take That reveal what fans can expect from upcoming Circus tour

23 September 2025, 16:48

Take That are BACK! Why they're bringing The Circus Tour back after 17 years

By Hope Wilson

After announcing they were bringing back the Circus tour, Take That have revealed what's to come in 2026 and tease new music.

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Take That have exclusively told Heart what fans can expect from their upcoming Circus tour which will see Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald travel around the UK performing some of their greatest hits.

In summer 2026 the band will be visiting Southampton, Coventry, Sunderland, Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester, London and Dublin as they belt out some of their biggest selling tracks of all time.

After the original Circus tour in 2009 broke UK records as the fastest-selling tour in history with over 600,000 tickets sold in under 5 hours, this 2026 version of the tour is set to be epic.

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With special guests The Script and Belinda Carlisle joining the boys on tour, they've given us a sneak peak into what fans can expect from the show and revealed why they decided to bring Circus back to life.

Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald have opened up about their Circus tour. Picture: Global

Speaking about the decision to to tour Circus again, Gary revealed: "It's taken some thought this, and I think, you know, I don't want to get too dramatic here, but, you know, we are a band, the reason we're still here and we're still doing what we do is because we like to move forwards. And so you would think that an idea of going backwards, it's not a good one.

"However, we were actually thinking it is our favourite show. You know, the idea of being a part of it again is really tantalising because it was so brilliant. I always felt like we didn't play enough shows of this show. It was so great to be a part of it but then we were like, well, hang on a minute, we've never repeated a tour before. Who has?"

He continued: "So then we're like, okay, we're doing something new here now. I think probably 90% of the show will be as people remember it. We watch the video a few times now and it's like, actually, you know what? We could get little bits and pieces better here.

"And then when you start thinking of the songs that we had after the Circus, we have the Flood, so where do they fit? And so all of a sudden it becomes like something new."

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Take That have announced performances across the UK and Ireland. Picture: Take That

Howard added: "I always feel also that we have unfinished business with the Circus because like Gary said, we never played enough, there was a lot of people that couldn't get tickets for it, and I think since we've been doing some of the teasers that we are doing the Circus tour and we've been watching the little clips and looking at all the comments.

"There was so many people that didn't get tickets for it and which is like exciting for us as well because we're as excited as they are. We love getting on that stage and performing the Circus every, every single day, it never gets boring whereas all our obvious shows get really boring."

Mark also revealed the band's excitement at performing at the London Stadium, which they last played at during the 2012 Olympic Games.

He revealed: "That was the last time we performed at this stadium, it's a beautiful, beautiful place. My memory actually of it is seeing Usain Bolt win the relay with his team. I had my boy with me at the time and he would have been like five or six maybe, and I had to carry him home because he fell asleep. I remember thinking, you know, I'm not going to be able to do this for much longer, now he's started college."

Howard added: "The beauty of it is, is we have pictures of a couple of my kids with Gary's kids in the audience at the Circus and they were like nine, 10 years old, something like that. And now this is coming round my two little boys will be exactly the same age, so I actually get them to experience what we did back then, which is great. So everyone's excited."

Take That are going on tour in 2026. Picture: Jason Hetherington

The boys also disclosed that some familiar faces from the first Circus tour will be returning to the stage, with Gary saying: "We have a lot of original people as well, I think Joe the Clown, he did a few tours with us, he's back with us and he doesn't look a day older."

He added: "This is more than a tour it's a celebration, and to be able to celebrate it with all these amazing people, the technical people as well, the original people are back with us as well. So it's been sort of fun putting this together and less like bolting a tour together. It's just, like I said, a celebration."

Mark went on to reveal the element of the tour he's not looking forward to, saying: "For me, the unicycle is probably sat here today. Because it's probably about 40 metres, the catwalk, and then you go around in a circle. So when I think about it now, that's the bit that I'm like, 'Wow, that's a long'. A long way to be able to go."

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The Circus tour will begin in summer 2026. Picture: Jason Hetherington

The group also opened up about special guest acts The Script and Belinda Carlisle who will be joining them on tour, with Mark stating: "Well, The Script actually supported us at the original, but they were a younger band and they hadn't had the Hall of Fame and, you know, they hadn't gone on to world domination at that point. So it's really great that they're coming back and Belinda Carlisle, I mean, a legend, absolute legend. We cannot wait."

Gary also revealed the band are currently working on new music, confessing: "We are creating right now, so we're hoping to throw a new one in there somewhere maybe towards the end, but, yeah, excited for next year."

Confirming it'll be their tenth album, Mark added: "It is incredible, so we're excited about it. We want to do something really special, we're talking a lot about the next record, the sound, the feel.

"The lovely thing, in many ways is that we know that we're gonna be together. Trying to ride unicycles, trying to make a record, fit into costumes for the next few months. I always find that us as a band are our most creative when we're spending time together. So we're going to be together a lot."