TWO best friends from Braintree will Never Forget their chance to perform with legends Take That on a live primetime television show.

Rob Jones, 33, and Gary Wilson, 36, took to the stage on Saturday night to perform a marching band piece during the semi-final of BBC One talent show Let It Shine.

The show pits contestants against each other for the chance to play the role of a boyband in a new touring musical that features the music of Take That.

Rob, who is also in band Missing Andy, has been in marching bands since he was six-years-old and performed in a group called the Black Knights, run by Rus Rodgers.

Rob said: “Rus was invited to perform because he now has a band called the No Limit Street Band. We used to compete in competitions and in 2003 we set a record for the highest drum corps UK score which still stands.

“When you hear the words marching band, people assume you mean that rubbish you see in the movies.

“It’s way harder, cooler and technical than that. It’s more like a stadium rock band show, with choreography. It was nice to get the old team back together and relive the old days.

“When this opportunity came up we couldn’t say no.”

The team wrote the piece for their performance just two days before the show.

Rob said: “It was a privilege to do it. Out of all the boy bands they are the biggest. They have been there and done it all and they were massive in my childhood, it was nice to go on stage with them.

“They are really cool guys, we got to hang out with them a little bit. My fiancé Lydia recorded the show for me, but I couldn’t really watch it because she was screaming so much.

“To have me and Mark Owen there together was pretty exciting for her.”