Gary Barlow shares emotional message as daughter Emily heads to university

It's been a big week for Gary Barlow and his wife Dawn. The couple have bid farewell to their eldest daughter, Emily, as she begins her journey at university.

Exclusive: Christmas with Gary Barlow... a peek into his family's 'chaotic' celebrations

Taking to his Instagram Stories on Thursday, the Take That star penned an emotional message and shared a series of photos from their family vacation.

"Just home from a lovely break," he remarked. "We said goodbye to our Emily who goes off to Uni for four years! [crying face emoji] But we all had fun - relaxed and now ready for another crazy year!!!!!"

MORE: Gary Barlow and wife Dawn look picture perfect in rare holiday photos

It seems Gary and his loved ones enjoyed the festive season somewhere very hot and sunny. Alongside a snap with his wife, the couple appeared to be in great spirits as they dined alfresco, with Gary adding a series of red heart emojis to his caption.

The couple, who will celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary next week, are doting parents to three children: Daniel, 21, Emily, 19, and 12-year-old Daisy.

Back in September 2020, Gary revealed how his daughter Emily's original plans for university had been thwarted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

During a chat on Zoe Ball's Radio 2 show, the doting dad explained why Emily opted against going to university that year. He said: "They are pretty good, one is at university. One is taking a year off, was meant to be going to uni but she doesn't want to with all this going, on which I completely understand.

"Our youngest is 11 now, which is like… well they're not kids really anymore. Although, they always are to us."

One of the snaps Gary shared with his wife Dawn from their recent holiday

Meanwhile, in December, Gary opened up to HELLO! about his plans for Christmas. He said: "Well this changes as we have a three-year pattern in which we'll have my mum for Christmas one year, my wife Dawn's parents the next year, then a Christmas with just us as a family. We often travel for this one but in the other years we would be in London."

He added: "I try to get up early to walk the dogs before everyone else is up, then we open presents around the tree. Then Dawn and I start the dinner to get that on the table for 3ish. Then we indulge in a drink (or two) and maybe watch a movie."

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.