Meet the Liverpool trampolinist who’s a high-flying part of Take That’s spectacular Circus Tour

Max, from South Liverpool, and his mixed synchro partner Millie Harvey were chosen to perform on the huge Take That UK and Ireland tour after representing Great Britain in the world championships last November.

As a world trampoline gold medallist, Max Middleton knows all about success at the top level in sport.

But now the 19-year-old’s incredible aerial skills have taken him to new heights, as part of the spectacular Take That Circus Tour.

Max and Millie have been on the road with Take That since May with the phenomenal show, which also features 22 dancers, 18 circus performers, and a 30ft mechanical elephant.

Following sold out stadium concerts including Glasgow and Cardiff, this weekend will bring him closest to home, with three dates at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 19-21.

And with his proud family and friends in the crowd, Max – who trains at the renowned Liverpool Trampoline Gymnastics Academy in Speke – is looking forward to putting on a high-flying display.

Max and Millie have helped choreograph their routines with the tour’s creative director, with the biggest reserved for Shine where they perform in multi-coloured costumes covered in giant pompoms alongside the band.

Max explains:

“Before the first rehearsals we got an email with some ideas of what they wanted, then we came up with the skills and connections and just made it as fun as possible,”

“It’s very different to a competition routine, because it’s less about technique and more about how artistically aesthetic it looks.

“With a competition routine, we’re on the trampoline for about 30 seconds to a minute, but in this show we’re on for 3-5 minutes consistently several nights in a row, so it’s more frequency but less load on the body because we’re not including as many difficult skills.”

After winning the individual senior title at the British championships last year, being on one of the most talked-about tours of 2026 has been an unforgettable experience for Max.

He says:

“This is the first thing I’ve done outside competitions and it’s been unbelievable,”

“When you’re on stage in a stadium seeing that many heads and arms waving in the air, it’s hard to comprehend. 

“The first song is Greatest Day and the first time I heard everyone singing that it was the loudest thing I’ve ever experienced. 

“And it’s the little moments like Never Forget when people clap or Shine when everyone waves their arms that make you just go ‘wow, this is crazy’.”

The two friends, who met when they were both training with the GB squad, got the opportunity to join the tour after submitting video reels of their routines.

Max explains:

“Millie got a message from her old club in London who knew they were looking for trampolinists for the show. 

“She got in contact with one of the casting people from Cirque Bijou and they needed two people so Millie asked me because she knew it would suit me and I’d be good for it.

“We had to send video reels to Cirque Bijou, they sent them to Take That who said yes and within a few weeks we were in Birmingham starting rehearsals.”

The scale of the show means they have six costume changes, including one for a more unusual role.

Max says:

“When the enormous elephant is on stage for Hold Up a Light, we have to work its ears, moving them back and forward – I’m on the left ear and Millie is on the right!

“One of the highlights of being with the tour has been getting to know Take That, as well as some of the team who were on the original Circus Tour.

“The first one was in 2009, when I was two, and there are a couple of people on this tour who did the first one so being able to speak to them and find out what it was like has been really interesting.

“Gary, Mark and Howard are just so normal, you forget who they are because they’re that nice. It’s crazy to think I’ve watched Gary Barlow on telly for so long and now I’ve played bingo with him on our day off!”

Max says the Circus Tour has given him a taste of performing that he’d like more of:

“You get little jitters before you go on stage but I’m not nervous when I’m doing it and when I compare it to competition level adrenalin it’s completely different. You’re not being judged, you’re just being appreciated. 

“The excitement and joy I feel when I walk onto the stage is genuinely insane.”

Follow Max’s Take That Circus Tour posts on his Instagram.

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