Gary Barlow is embarrassed his hair care has made more ''noise'' than the release of his music.

The 46-year-old singer - who is the lead vocalist in the boy band Take that - has recently admitted to not washing his locks since 1995, and the star has admitted he is shocked that news has made bigger headlines than when he releases records or stars in a new show.

The 'Let It Shine' judge told the Metro newspaper: ''I think I've got it wrong. I found a clip from 1995 and, actually, I haven't washed it since then. I'd been in LA and we has a different make-up artist who put really waxy stuff in my hair and I just couldn't get it clean.

''It's quite embarrassing. You release records, your own TV shows, but nothing has made the noise of this bloody quote - that's showbiz.''

Meanwhile, the 'Rule the World' hitmaker has admitted he has always been ''prone'' to piling on the pounds and has forced himself to go hungry for ''most'' of his lifetime.

Speaking previously, he said: ''I'm probably in the best shape I've been in for about 20 years.

''I'm really prone to putting on weight so I've spent most of my life hungry.''