15 September 2023 , 15:11
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Ever since his departure from Take That in 2014, Jason Orange has remained firmly away from the limelight, with glimpses of the former 90s popstar being few and far between.
Instead, Jason is said to be living a life far removed from the glitz of the showbiz world in his off-grid Cotswolds country home. Keen to have a "normal life", he stopped responding to calls from his bandmates in 2018 and hadn't been seen in years.
So fans were stunned after he was pictured for the first time earlier this year with his bike - and will be even more shocked as new photos resurface of the singer looking almost completely unrecognisable now.
Back on his bike in a pair of shorts and an unbuttoned navy shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Jason looked carefree as he flashed a grin and cycled around Londdon. A plain flatcap hid his shaved hair, a world away from the longer wavy hazelnut locks he once sported while he was in the band, and his ruggedly handsome stubble.
Jason Orange looks almost unrecognisable (NASH / BACKGRID)
He was cycling his bike in London (NASH / BACKGRID)Fans were left heartbroken nine years ago when Jason announced that he was leaving the band. He insisted he'd had the 'best years of his life' with the chart-toppers, before saying: "There have been no fallings out, only a decision on my part that I no longer wish to do this."
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After Jason quit, Gary, Mark and Howard Donald continued to perform as a trio. “I think he felt he didn’t want to do it any more,” Mark explained of Jason's decision to leave. “But I’m not going to speak for him. He's still here anyway. The other day we were trying to work out who the best joke-teller in the band is and remembered how Jason always laughed before he got to the punchline," he told The Times.
Jason with his Take That bandmates in 2011 (Getty Images)In 2018, Howard revealed Jason had stopped responding to calls and appeared to have completely gone off the grid to live a more "normal life" in the countryside.
"Jason has gone off the grid. He's not taking emails or phone calls or stuff like that. That's good for him," he told the Loose Women panel. "That's where he wants to be. I think he wants to be a million miles away from this at the moment."
Little is known about the star's personal life, but Gary previously said: "At the end of the day you’ve got to accept someone doesn’t want to do what you’re doing any more. "He wanted to go off, live his life and good luck to him if that’s what he wants to do. He’s spent a big part of his life being in the band, but he doesn’t want to do it any more, it’s that simple."
In 2020, Jason was spotted queuing in a dry cleaners in the picturesque village of Chipping Norton. The former boy bander was said to be house hunting in nearby Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire as an insider told the Sun : "Jason booked into a hotel in Stow and spent the week looking around the area eyeing up houses."