Personal Life
Donald was educated at Moorside Primary School and Littlemoss High School.
He is father of two daughters, Grace (born March 1999) and Lola (born 2005), from two separate relationships. His elder daughter Grace was born to Victoria Piddington, while he had his younger daughter from his relationship with Marie-Christine Musswessels, they split in late 2009.
In April 2010, Donald was granted a super-injunction against former girlfriend, musician Adakini Ntuli, with whom he had been in an on/off relationship from 2000 to 2008. (See Ntuli v Donald) After Ntuli engaged publicist Max Clifford and began negotiations with the News of the World, Donald obtained the super-injunction. The non-publicity side of the injunction was lifted in November 2010, in what was seen by legal commentators as a precedent in future judgements on the issuing of super-injunctions.
In 2007, he sparked controversy when he expressed his view that cannabis should be legalised, saying, "If more people went out stoned than drunk I think there would be less fighting, less trouble, and less violence." He also admitted to having "dabbled with ecstasy" in the past.
In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That band-mates Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, Donald had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for high net worth people. Lawyers responded to the claims, stating the band members 'paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises.'
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“A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)