Mark
was the cute one, the one that was showered with chocolates
and teddy bears and awards for 'sexiest male' and 'best haircut'
at award ceremonies. His loveable smile and honest ways made him
the most popular Thatter of all with the biggest fan base.
He grew up in a catholic family in Oldham, Greater Manchester in the North of England, where he attended The Holy Rosary Junior school. At the age of 11 Marke then moved on to St. Ausgustines Catholic School. At home, he shared a room with his brother Daniel, and sister Tracey in a small council house that could quite easily be part of the UK's famous Manchester-based soap opera 'Coronation Street'.
It was around this time he also had a trial out with Huddersfield Town, Manchester United and Rochdale football clubs, but he damaged his groin and was unable to continue. To earn some extra money, Mark started work at Strawberry Studios, as teaboy during the weekends. He became good friends with one of the singers working on some demo tapes and it is from this point that Mark's life began to change. That singer was Gary Barlow! Mark and Gary joined forces to form a band called The Cutest Rush. Gary was in touch with local Talent Agent, Nigel Martin-Smith and it wasn't long before the idea of recruiting two other members to form a 'boy band' began to take form.
During his Take That days, Mark was never really interested in writing songs for the band. However, since the split he has become a talented artist in his own right. His first two singles Child and Clementine both reached number 3. After that things were quiet for a couple of years on the music front. However, Mark was still out and about on the football pitch, playing in the annual charity event Soccer Six or occasionally making an appearance on TV in programmes such as Mind the Buzzcocks. In 2000 he made a series called Celebrity Scooters for BBC Choice (now BBC 3), in which he travelled through Belgium and Holland during Euro 2000, a football championship. In November 2002, Mark participated in Celebrity Big Brother, coming out the Winner by a mile. He has since signed a new record deal with Island/Universal and a first single is expected August 2003, with an album to follow shortly after. Mark lives in the Lake District, and is very happy with his girlfriend Chloe. A Tour is also on the cards, hopefully for sometime at the end of 2003. Mark seems to be settled and happy with his life and much more content 'doing his own thing'.
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