3am: Take That's US gamble; KEEN TO CRACK IT AFTER VEGAS ROAD TRIP.

Byline: Clemmie Moodie & Danielle Lawler

THEY may be all grown up these days but Take That turned into a bunch of teenagers on a recent trip to America.

Gary, Jason, Howard and Mark - who were out in LA putting the finishing touches to their new album - escaped from their other halves and hit the highway for a laddish road trip to Vegas.

They even dropped in on former bandmate Robbie Williams.

Chatting to us over a cuppa at their West London recording studio, Gary laughs: "You should have seen us.

"We couldn't even figure out how to fill the car up.

"It's really rare for just the four of us to be on our own. It took us six hours to get up there but it was such a laugh.

"I love Vegas. We went to see the Cirque du Soleil show to get some inspiration for our tour. It was amazing, but I just kept thinking, 'That looks expensive.'"

The four have long since buried the hatchet with Robbie, who now lives in LA.

And Jason Orange told us: "Rob's looking really well at the moment. We went out for dinner and he was telling us he's been chilling out and writing a lot, but nothing with us.

"I don't know if it's all about UFOs but he'll be bringing something out soon."

Poor Robbie never did manage to crack the States - and Take That reckon they might succeed where their old mucker failed.

It may be a bit of a long shot but Jase believes their next single Greatest Day, which gets its first airplay on Monday, could do well there.

He told us: "Actually, there are a couple of songs on the album which I could definitely hear being played on the radio in America. We're thinking of sending a few tracks out there to see how it goes down.

"America hasn't been a massive priority for us - we've got our album out here to promote and another big European tour next year - but it'd be good to see what the response is like."

Meanwhile, Gary has also recorded a song with Peter Kay for the comic's new Channel 4 show Britain's Got The Pop Factor And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice.

Gary laughs: "Peter came down to my studio to work on it. He's playing a female character called Geraldine.

"At one point my kids were asleep on the couch and my wife looked at me and said, 'This is mad, Peter Kay is running around the studio.' It was a bit surreal."

CAPTION(S):

TAKE THAT HIGHWAY The boys went on a trip to Vegas