Robbie Williams joined Take That on stage on Thursday night, but stopped short of performing with his former band.
Take That opened the Children In Need concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, organised by Gary Barlow, with their song Greatest Day.
Barlow then welcomed the 4,500-strong crowd and said: "What a perfect night for us to introduce an old friend."
An emotional-looking Williams, who left the band in 1995, appeared on stage alongside his old bandmates but only briefly.
Barlow and Williams have both hinted at a reunion of the band's original line-up but, on the night, the band left the stage to allow Williams to perform his solo singles Bodies and You Know Me alone.
Speaking after his performance, Williams said he was welling up before joining Take That on stage and he wanted to "milk" the moment for a bit longer.
Asked why he did not perform with the band, Williams said: "Something's planned and you don't want to shoot your bolt, do you?"
He added: "I started tearing up just before I came on and the lads were singing and knowing it was just about to happen and knowing what the reactions were going to be like and then all my team were like 'Please don't cry'.
"And I think we should have milked it for a lot longer than we actually did. I think Gaz, in his wisdom went 'Right, we should get off now, let the lad do his singing'. That was probably what was in his head because I was trying to get them back to do a bow and everything. That's the first time in 15 years, we should have least stayed there for 10 minutes."
He added that he was not nervous about it, saying:
"I'm not nervous anymore because we've seen each other... the bitterness and resentment has completely gone and I'm just left with four other lads that I just love to pieces.
"That's why I was so bitter and resentful in the first place because I loved them then and love is all that's left now, and that's what you see tonight."
Also on the bill were the band Muse, Cheryl Cole, Leona Lewis, Dame Shirley Bassey, Dizzee Rascal, Katherine Jenkins and Annie Lennox.
Cheryl Cole sang her solo single Fight For This Love, dressed in a white military-style ensemble and backed by a troupe of dancers.
She appeared on stage once again to sing with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol.
Cole, wearing a long white dress and with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, sang Martha Wainwright's lines from the Snow Patrol song Set Fire To The Third Bar.
The night, which has raised more than £500,000 in ticket sales for Children In Need, will be broadcast on television on November 19.
© Press Association