Howard Donald makes bowels 'Shine' with colonic irrigation before huge tour

Take That singer Howard Donald during the photocall ‘The Band – Das Musical’ with the main cast and members of the band Take That at Theater des Westens on April 1, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Isa Foltin/Getty Images)
Take That singer Howard Donald during the photocall ‘The Band – Das Musical’ with the main cast and members of the band Take That at Theater des Westens on April 1, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Isa Foltin/Getty Images)

Take That singer Howard Donald has revealed his unusual way of preparing for the group’s upcoming sell-out tour – a session of colonic irrigation.

The 50-year-old told the Sunday Mirror how indulging in the internal body flush leaves him feeling ‘amazing’ as the three piece ‘Man Band’ undertake a mammoth UK-wide arena tour.

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Howard said: “It’s always uncomfortable when the water fills up the belly – you hold as long as you can, and then finally release.

“The feeling that you’ve cleared out lingering bad toxins is amazing.”

The Take That singers Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen during the photocall ‘The Band – Das Musical’ on April 1, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Isa Foltin/Getty Images)
The Take That singers Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen during the photocall ‘The Band – Das Musical’ on April 1, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Isa Foltin/Getty Images)

The procedure, which cleans out the bowels with water hosed in through via the rear end, is part of an eight day organ cleanse Howard took part in before kicking off the tour.

Other elements of the cleanse, included downing a concoction of 250ml of olive oil mixed with fresh grapefruit. Howard said: “That was the worst bit. It made me feel sick until it came out the other end. “But afterwards I was proud of myself as it was needed, especially before the tour.”

“I definitely recommend to anyone that is constantly bloated, has had a weekend on the p***, flies a lot, eats s*** a lot or is constipated.”

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While Howard takes to fully flushing out his system before a tour, his band mates Gary Barlow and Mark Owen have slightly more traditional ways of getting prepared for the 38-date UK tour, which started at Sheffield’s FlyDSA Arena on Friday night (12 April).

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – APRIL 12: Take That perform on stage at the FlyDSA Arena on April 12, 2019 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images for Take That)
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – APRIL 12: Take That perform on stage at the FlyDSA Arena on April 12, 2019 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images for Take That)

Gary, aged 48, revealed he undertakes a strict exercise regime, with a series of uphill walks, short sprints and spin classes. He said: “Knowing thousands of people have bought tickets, I want to be super prepared, physically and mentally.”


Mark, aged 47, gets prepared for a tour in a much more appetising way, by drinking lots of tea, and stocking up on chocolate biscuits, which frankly, sounds a lot for appealing the a colonic irrigation.