Bingo - Bang On Trend

Think A-list celebrity parties and you immediately have visions of Cristal champagne and caviar blini's. You may not automatically think of free bingo. However that's exactly how Gary Barlow and his wife Dawn decided to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary this year.

Joined by a select group of celebrity friends at London's top event location, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the Take That star and friends enjoyed an evening of bingo calls, cards and dabbers. Gary was host and bingo master for the evening and even added a few of his own calls for good measure, although reports that he sang all of the calls are yet to be substantiated.

Celebrity guests at the event included Cheryl Cole and her husband (England Footballer) Ashley; strictly star Alesha Dixon, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and Gary's former boy band rival Ronan Keating. And of course the rest of the Take That team were there to celebrate with their friend.

Although the stars went at the bingo with earnest, and Denise Van Outen and singer Beverley Knight both received full houses during the evening, the real winner was Barnardos who received all the money raised through the night.

Barlow is just one of an increasing group of stars bucking the usual trends and looking for a truly British and down to earth experience. His party comes in stark contrast to some of the celebrity bashes we have seen over the past few years.

In 2009 we saw no extravagance spared to celebrate the 50th birthday of Britain's favourite bad boy Simon Cowell. The lavish £1 million pound extravaganza took place in Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire. He invited over 400 guests, who included Kylie Minogue, Sir Elton John, Kate Moss and fellow X-Factor Judges Danni Minogue.

The fact that Cheryl Cole also went to Cowell's party is where the similarity ends between the two bashes. Judging from some of his withering comments as a panelist on Britain's Got Talent it is difficult to imagine Simon Cowell enjoying a night playing bingo. Certainly the bingo caller would have to be at Barlow's level in order to escape any criticism. Perhaps, should Take That split up again, their lead singer has an option on a different career as he could walk straight in to any bingo hall in the land.

Cowell's party saw no expense spared and certainly made interesting reading for those of us not lucky enough to receive an invite. However, Barlow stood true to his roots and it just goes to show that celebrities can be down to earth and are just as likely to have a good night out with a game of Bingo and a pint.

It is a mark of how far the game has come since its nadir in the 1990s when it looked to be on its way out. Now it seems it is more popular than ever, not only with the average Joe but also for the bingo playing stars.