Gary Barlow has gained weight in lockdown

He said: "Recently I’ve felt a bit more responsibility around social media so I’ve specifically not been posting any fitness or nutrition stuff because I don’t want to be influencing people for the wrong reasons.

"I make music and I sing and I write but I’m not a professional in fitness and nutrition. It’s not easy losing weight and it gets harder when you get older."

Gary also insisted he's not especially bothered by his recent weight gain.

He told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: "I’m probably a little heavier than I usually am, but I’m really not bothered about it right now.

"I just feel like I need a bit more healthy food, I’ve definitely come off the tracks a little bit. Although me ‘coming off the tracks’ is really nothing to shout about."

Gary has struggled with his weight for years, and he previously admitted to tipping the scales at 17 stone following Take That's split.

The chart-topping singer confessed to going through a "rough period"

when he "lost control of himself".

He shared: "I remember one particular day just thinking: 'How have I got here?' I was just so disappointed with myself...

"So it started there for me and I turned my brain on to sorting out what I ate. The trouble is the food I love - Chinese, chips, crisps. They were giving me a couple minutes of a food coma, taking me out of the real world. It's just not good, that...

"So I decided not to have cheat days, and just stay away from those foods. I'd love to have the odd cigarette now and then but I can't. I can't start smoking again."