Gary Barlow made an emotional announcement as he celebrated his latest anniversary of married life.

Earlier this year, the Take That star admitted that pro dancer wife Dawn could be “pretty tough” on him, but he made it clear he was still in it for the long haul in his latest Instagram post. Attaching a series of Polaroid pictures of them together, he captioned it: “The achievement of being married for 25 years is not the days, weeks or years – it’s the people you’re surrounded by #family #friends #love.”

He quickly attracted more than 22,000 likes for his declaration of love, with one follower quipping: “The lyrics to Nobody Else come to mind. Happy anniversary Gary and Dawn xx.” Another wrote: “I wish you another hundred years of life together, as happy as the first day.”

“Yourself and Dawn really do define ‘couple goals’,” another fan marvelled. The pair have known each other since 1990, when Dawn became a dancer in one of Take That’s music videos, and they instantly hit it off.

She was subsequently invited to join the band on tour where she took to the stage every night alongside the boys, and in 2000 she tied the knot with Gary. However, after marriage, she retired from her job to raise their family full-time – something which Gary has commended her for.

Talking on The Imperfects podcast, the Rule The World singer, who now tours solo, explained: “She brought our kids up, I didn’t. I do this job which is b****y all encompassing.

“I travel all round the world, she gave up her job to bring our kids up. [She] left her dreams to one side and I get to do mine still.”

He added that she was a “wonderful” woman who’d done a “brilliant job”, praising her “no nonsense” approach.

The pair have three surviving kids – eldest son Daniel and sister Emily, who are in their 20s, and baby of the family Daisy, who is in her mid-teens.

Yet tragedy struck for the family when they hoped to welcome their fourth child Poppy, who was stillborn at full term back in 2012.

Speaking on the aforementioned podcast, Gary admitted he is still not “at peace” with his loss and feels “angry”.

He also feared the couple would end up splitting after reading worrying statistics about the impact that a still birth can have on families.

Gary, who wrote the song Let Me Go about his experience, said: “Something like 95% of couples split up when something like that happens to them.”

However, he added: “We’re one of the lucky couples because for us it’s brought us ever closer together.”