Jason Orange of Take That
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Take That fans reminisce as Jason Orange’s departure revisited

Jason hasn't been in the band for six years

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Take That: We’ve Come A Long Way is delighting fans again tonight (Tuesday December 29).

Last year, band members past and present reminisced about their journey to the top and some of their best moments.

However, there was one notable omission from the celebrations.

Jason Orange wasn’t there to join in the fun, so the question is: where was he and why did he leave the band?

Jason Orange in Take That
Jason left in 2014 (Credit: YouTube)

Why wasn’t Jason Orange on Take That: We’ve Come A Long Way and why did he leave the band?

Jason left the band in September 2014 and issued a lengthy statement explaining why.

“I want to start by saying how proud I am of what we have achieved together over the years,” he began.

“However, at a band meeting last week I confirmed to Mark, Gary and Howard that I do not wish to commit to recording and promoting a new album.”

Read more: Robbie Williams career regret: Singer wishes he’d cracked it in America

Adding that he will always be thankful to fans, he said he was grateful for all the good times.

“At the end of the Progress tour I began to question whether it might be the right time for me to not continue on with Take That,” he explained.

“At the start of this year and with my full knowledge and blessing the guys began writing new material.”

Jason also explained that there had been no “falling out”.

Jason Orange of Take That
Jason has disappeared from the public eye (Credit: SplashNews.com)

Have Take That tried to get him back?

In 2017, Gary Barlow told The Sun newspaper that they had given up trying to lure Jason back to the band.

“This has been weird with the whole Jason thing,” he said.

“He’d told us for a while, ‘I don’t want to be in music any more, I don’t want to do this any more’, and we’d push, push, push.

At the end of the day you’ve got to accept someone doesn’t want to do what you’re doing any more.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to accept someone doesn’t want to do what you’re doing any more.”

Robbie Williams has admitted that he would only be interested in a reunion if Jason was involved.

What’s Jason Orange doing now?

Since leaving Take That, Jason has kept a low profile and has been out of the public eye.

In 2018, Howard Donald told Loose Women viewers that his former bandmate had “gone off-grid” because “that’s where he wants to be”.

Read more: Stunned fans compare Mark Owen to ‘Tiger King’ during Take That reunion

Father-of-two Howard also revealed in 2018 that he had bumped into Jason in the street.

It was the first time Jason had seen his children, he revealed.

Take That: We’ve Come A Long Way is repeated on BBC Two tonight (Tuesday December 29) at 10pm

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor