Gary Barlow says losing daughter Poppy is 'a scar he'll die with'

Gary Barlow has opened up on the heartbreak of his daughter Poppy being stillborn, saying that it is "a scar he'll die with".

The Take That singer's fourth child was due to be born in August 2012, but with four days to go, his wife Dawn called him from a check-up with the news that something was terribly wrong.

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Barlow, 51, told The Mirror: "Now this is one of those phone calls where you live a lifetime in a second."

He explained how Dawn had to be induced and that he had dreaded seeing Poppy, whose name was already on the door of their nursery at home.

But he said that when she was born "the light that filled the room was just magical" and added: "Over that next hour we took turns nursing her, cuddling her, having pictures taken with her, hands, footprints, just anything to try and extend those short 60 minutes."

The star spoke of his admiration for Dawn, who threw herself into school events and playdates for their other three children, Daniel, Emily and Daisy, praising her strength.

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But he said: "I found myself back in that familiar place, not knowing any of the words or where to stand, nor what to say. I needed to accept this wasn’t a scar that was going to heal with time, this was a scar I was going to die with."

However, he said that losing Poppy had given him a different perspective on life and that when bandmate Jason Orange announced in 2014 that he wanted to leave Take That, rather than talking him round he encouraged his friend to do whatever made him happy.

Recently, Barlow spoke about his struggles with bulimia, telling the Sunday Times Magazine that he had hit a rough patch when Robbie Williams left Take That and when the group temporarily disbanded.

He said: "Being sick was a punishment for me. I didn’t want to mend it. Bizarrely, I wasn't unhappy doing it. It was good that it hurt."

Watch: Gary Barlow admits he was 'drowning in jealousy' when Robbie Williams went solo