On the eve of a promotional schedule for a new album, Take That singer Gary Barlow has stated that he believes that fans are not interested in his financial issues.

Take That Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow responds bullishly to questions about tax avoidance

In an interview with The Sun over the controversy which surfaced earlier this year, Barlow said: “It’s a problem. It’s something we’ve got to get to the bottom of and sort. Our fans, they want to buy our records and watch our tours. They’re not interested. We can’t talk about it and, to be honest, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s actually a private thing.”

The 43 year old singer came under heavy fire for investing tens of millions of pounds in a scheme, alongside bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen, that was ruled as a tax relief measure by a court.

Fellow original band member Jason Orange did not take part in the scheme, and it was announced that he had departed the group a couple of weeks ago, leaving Take That as a trio for the first time in their history. The band has stated that Orange’s departure is unconnected to the tax controversy.

Following the story breaking back in May, Barlow kept quiet for almost four months until he posted on Twitter a few weeks ago: “I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories earlier this year.”

More: Take That announce a new album set for release in December

On the musical side of things, Take That are back in action following a four year gap between albums. Jeff Lynne, of ‘70s pop stars ELO, and Stuart Price have produced the new record III, which is due for release on 1st December. Its lead single ‘These Days’ made its radio debut on Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 show on Friday morning.

Their previous full-length release Progress came out in 2010 and was recorded as a quintet with Robbie Williams.