Gary Barlow's wife Dawn's serious health diagnosis led to major change in their family life
Take That star Gary Barlow has opened up about his wife Dawn Andrews' diabetes diagnosis, which led to a major change in the couple's lives and how they cook and eat together as a family
Pop icon Gary Barlow has opened up about his family's dietary overhaul after his wife Dawn Andrews was diagnosed with diabetes. The couple, who met in the '90s when Dawn was a dancer for Take That and tied the knot in 2000, are parents to Daniel, 24, Emily, 22, and Daisy, 15.
The discovery of Dawn's condition prompted Gary to re-evaluate their food choices, particularly his fondness for Italian dishes, due to pasta's carb content affecting her diabetes. Embracing a world of spices, the Barlow household now savours aromatic culinary delights such as dahl, with Gary often adding chicken and serving it with naan bread.
Chatting on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, the star shared, "When Dawn first got diabetes it took me ages, I was talking to so many people and we have a lot more information now than we did then 12 years ago, but I was like, 'how the hell do I get flavour into food? '" He joked, "And I slowly realised, and you're going to laugh at this, but it took me ages - spices - that's how we get flavour out of food."
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Although pasta makes an occasional comeback in the Barlow kitchen, Gary hasn't warmed to gluten-free pasta options, which are necessary for Dawn's health.
He went into detail, saying: "She doesn't eat pasta unless it's gluten free but half of them, now, we've found that most of the gluten free stuff is worse for you than the stuff with gluten in. I've often found taking out the sugar means, 'we've put a load of c*** in'.", reports Gloucestershire Live.
Diabetes UK has noted that individuals with diabetes tend to steer clear of pasta as it can lead to a spike in blood glucose levels, and they highlight that freshly cooked pasta is particularly notorious for causing the largest glucose spikes. Gary also reminisced about his early days with Dawn, recounting to Jessie and Lennie: "We were in Manchester, and we'd been to a club, and we're all piled in this van on the way home."
"We were in the very back of this van, and we were sitting right next to each other, had my arm around her and I just thought, this is it kids, I'm going in."
It’s been a busy year for Gary, who, as well as filming this new ITV series, has also been juggling the demands of a world tour with his Take That pals Mark Owen and Howard Donald this autumn.
Gary made headlines recently for a rather bizarre reason - his son's height. He stunned his fans when he shared a photo posing alongside his Dawn Andrews, Daniel and their daughters Emily, 22, and Daisy, 15, this week. The student appeared to tower above the rest of his family - the Take That star stands at just 5ft7" tall, while Daniel is 6ft2".
Gary recently admitted another big difference between him and Daniel and his daughters - they seem to have no interest in following in his footsteps.
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