Gary Barlow's jet reward

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Gary Barlow has spent £50,000 flying fellow celebrities home from a charity mountain climb.

The Take That singer hired a private jet to fly the famous trekkers back to the UK following their sponsored climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, in Africa, for British charity Comic Relief.

A source said: "Everyone was shattered after the climb and not looking forward to the long flight. So Gary decided to surprise them. A chartered jet back from Africa doesn't come cheap but Gary was happy to pay the money."

The 38-year-old singer surprised the stars - which included Girls Aloud stars Cheryl Cole and Kimberley Walsh, singer Alesha Dixon, presenter Fearne Cotton and actress Denise Van Outen - to reward them for raising £1.5 million for climbing the 19,000ft African mountain.

Speaking of their struggle, Boyzone singer Ronan Keating said: "Even though it was 10 days it felt like a long time when you're slogging up a mountain every day."

The celebrities were thrilled to have been surprised by Gary - who collapsed in a heap during the first day of the trek - and were relieved to have been treated to the luxurious journey home.

BBC Radio One DJ Fearne said: "Walking to the toilet on the plane was sheer agony."

Ben Shephard - who is a presenter on ITV's 'GMTV' - added: "The fact that we had a toilet on the plane was just such a luxury."

The climbers - who were also joined by BBC Radio One DJ Chris Moyles - will meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Downing Street on Thursday (12.03.09) so he can congratulate them on their efforts.