What Jason Orange is up to now, and real reason he refuses to take part in Take That Netflix documentary

If you need a new documentary to binge-watch on Netflix this week, then the new Take That docu-series has got to go to the top of your watchlist.

The three-part series debuted today and tells the story of Take That's rise to fame, from their early days being cast in the band, to their peak touring days to the departure of Robbie Williams and then Jason Orange, and where they're at now as a band of three.

But while much has been said about Robbie's departure from the band (he had his own solo doc on Netflix), we're not as clued up as to what happened with Jason Orange and his departure from the boyband. So what happened? And why didn't he want any involvement in the documentary.

Take That originally formed in 1990 with five members – Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange.

They were everyone's favourite boyband in the 90s and made classic hits like 'Relight My Fire', 'Pray' and more. But, Robbie left the band in 1995 and a year later, the four remaining members of Take That announced that they were splitting up, too.

Then, Gary, Mark, Howard and Jason reunited in 2005 and Robbie re-joined the band four years later, with them making more hit records like 'The Flood' and 'Rule The World'. But, Robbie left the band again in 2011.

Then, on 24 September, 2014, Jason announced that he was leaving Take That.

In a statement at the time of his departure, Jason said: "There have been no fallings out, only a decision on my part that I no longer wish to do this.

"I know how much Mark, Gary and Howard enjoy writing and making music, and they know that they have my full support and encouragement to continue on with what is to be another chapter for the band."

He added he was "proud" of the band's achievements and "spent some of the best years of my life with Take That", thanking his bandmates and their fans.

Years later Mark Owen opened up on his theories as to why Jason had left the band, telling The Times: "I think [Jason] felt like he didn’t want to do it any more. 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."

And during that same press run Howard said that while there would be a chance Robbie would come back, he didn't believe Jason would ever rejoin the group, telling The Sun: "Five of us? Oh there’s only three of us now! I don’t think Jason ever, maybe possibly Robbie, but not Jason I don’t think."

So, Jason has been pretty private since leaving Take That and is said to be living life in the countryside.

In an appearance on ITV's Loose Women in 2018, his bandmate Howard shared: "Jason has gone off the grid. He's not taking emails or phone calls or stuff like that.

"That's where he wants to be. I think he wants to be a million miles away from this at the moment." Fair enough!

While Gary, Mark and Howard have all been heavily involved in teh creation and promotion of the new Netflix documentary, Robbie and Jason have had no involvement.

Prior to the show debuting on the streamer, Netflix confirmed Jason would not be involved in the project. He does however feature in old archive footage throughout the documentary.

Take That is streaming on Netflix now.