Take That’s Jason Orange nearly replaced by Coronation Street star after shock exit
Take That fans were left devastated when Jason Orange announced over 10 years ago that he was leaving the band – but he was nearly replaced by a major Coronation Street star
Take That’s Jason Orange was nearly replaced by a huge Coronation Street star, it was revealed on ITV’s Lorraine today.
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The singer announced back in 2014 that he was leaving the band and retiring from the entertainment industry, leaving just Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen as the remaining members. Now, ex Corrie star Shayne Ward has revealed that he was in the running to replace him.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine this morning, Shayne said that he found out he had been considered as Take That’s newest member from a friend who was reading Gary’s autobiography. Speaking to Lorraine, Shayne said: “At the time it was my old sound engineer, he was reading Gary Barlow’s book.
“He mentioned that I was mentioned in the book and I was in the running of them contacting and I couldn’t believe it. For many years, people asked: ‘Would I have joined?’ In a heartbeat.”
However, Shayne went on to say that Jason would have been a tough act to follow. “But then also I thought, no one can replace Jason,” he said.
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“And I’m such a fan of Take That so I’m just honoured that they threw my name into the mix.”
Shayne, 40, may have found soap fame with his role as Aidan Connor on ITV’s Coronation Street, however he made his TV debut on the X Factor back in 2005.
The singer won the show’s second series and went onto reach number one in the UK singles chart with his hit That’s My Goal. Over the last 20 years, Shayne has begun to branch out into acting, taking on roles in The Good Ship Murder and Doctors.
He took part in Strictly Come Dancing last year, being paired with Nancy Xu. Earlier this week, Nancy spoke out about not having a celebrity partner for the new series – admitting that she was “disappointed”.
Nancy said: “Thank you so much for all of your kind, love and supportive messages that I’ve received in the past few days. I am okay. I am okay. As you all know now, I don’t have a dance partner on Strictly Come Dancing this year.”
She said: “In the very beginning, when I just received the messages, it [did] upset me and [I] felt disappointed.” Nancy, who joined the BBC show in 2019, said about having moved to the UK from China: “All I wanted is to achieve my dream.”
Nancy continued: “Strictly has given me such a big platform to allow me to show my skills, show my talents. Of course, I felt this year has been left out but I’m good because I’m still part of the Strictly family.”