Gary Barlow chauffeurs local sisters to concert

Katie Abbott, from Limavady, and her older sister Lindsey, who is based in Belfast, were travelling on a bus full of ‘Take That’ superfans to see their idols perform when disaster struck.

The bus ‘broke down’ and Lindsey and Katie feared they may not get to see the band perform on their ‘Greatest Hits Tour,’ breaking their run of attending every tour since Take That reformed.

They got the shock of their lives when Gary, Mark and Howard turned up with a fleet of Suzuki vehicles to rescue them – and Gary personally chauffeured the overwhelmed sisters to the gig, enjoying an impromptu singalong on the way.

The whole coach ‘catastrophe’ was turned into a TV advert which was aired last weekended during ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’

Katie said: “The whole experience was overwhelming, and when I got into the car with Gary I welled up immediately. To go from singing along to ‘Take That’ songs in a car with my sister – who’s the reason behind my love of the band - to actually singing with our idol, felt like a dream. The best bit was being able to just talk to Gary about anything and everything on the drive. He’s just as lovely as you think he’d be.”

Lindsey said: “This was like winning the lottery – but better. I actually met Gary when I was younger on a talk show and he could not have been nicer; I never thought that all these years later he’d be my driver to one of his shows!

She added: “The concert was also the best performance I’ve ever seen them do – it was definitely the Greatest Day.”