Take That’s Howard Donald has lost a fight to keep details of a gagging order he placed on an ex girlfriend a secret.
Today the super-injunction, which granted anonymity to those involved, was lifted by the Court of Appeal.
Howard had obtained a court order earlier this year which prevented his ex-girlfriend Adakini Ntuli talking to the press about their relationship and also kept the existence of the legal battle a secret.
Under the new rules, she is still not allowed to disclose any confidential information but the existence of the injunction can now be revealed.
Howard had called in lawyers after receiving a text message from Ntuli in March asking: ‘Why shud (sic) I continue to suffer financially out of loyalty when selling my story will sort my life out?’
She had already enlisted publicist Max Clifford and was in the midst of negotiations with The News of The World when the injunction was granted.
The Daily Mail reported that Ntuli is a musician and single mother of two. Howard is not the father of either of her children.
The pair had been in a relationship for some time since 2000, although the duration and intensity were disputed. By the end of 2009 it had come to an end.
Ntuli’s lawyers argued at appeal that there should have been no injunction in the first place and that anonymity was inappropriate.
The Court of Appeal sided with her “in relation to the super-injunction and anonymity issues.”
A super-injunction is a highly secretive order which prevents the press even reporting that the injunction has been granted.
The news could not have come at a worse time for Take That, who have just released their new album, Progress, as a reunited fivesome with Robbie Williams.
According to the Official Charts Company it is already the fastest-selling album of this century, with more than 235.000 copies flying off the shelves on its first day of sale.
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