Entertainment
Robbie Williams reflects on ‘toxic’ fame as he insists no celebrities are ’rounded’: ‘They don’t exist’-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
The singer has been famous since the age of 16.
The star has been frank on the downsides of fame (Picture: Getty)
Robbie Williams has been as candid as ever with his opinions in an interview, this time sharing his views on the toxicity of fame.
The chart-topping singer, who has been famous since the age of 16 when he joined Take That, has experienced a rocky road with celebrity.
After exiting the band in 1995, he went on to secure a strong of number one hits with the likes of Millenium, She’s the One and Rock DJ, as well as his enduring song Angels, which reached number four.
However, his diet previously consisted of cigarettes, alcohol, weed, prescription drugs and ‘colossal, heart-stopping amounts’ of cocaine before he entered rehab in 2007.
He now says he has a ‘constant fight’ over his weight due to having ‘an addictive nature that finds a loophole in sugar’.
Discussing his job and things being put into perspective by marriage and fatherhood – he and wife Ayda Field share four children – he said he used to ‘respond to [it] in ways that were unhealthy# whereas now ‘it’s just a job and I can take delight in knowing that I’m incredibly f**king lucky to have it’.
Robbie claimed there were no ‘well-rounded’ famous people (Picture: Getty)
He found fame alongside Take That bandmates (L-R) Jason Orange, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Gary Barlow (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)
‘Everybody is intoxicated with the thought of what fame is, even though the examples all around you are of people falling down, getting tripped up, becoming mentally ill, being deeply unhappy, resentful, agoraphobic, desperate, behaving in ways they normally wouldn’t,’ he told The Sunday Times.
Doubling down on his view that fame is only ever toxic, he added: ‘That’s the truth of celebrity, that’s what ‘that’ is.
‘There are no opposite cases you can point to besides completely inauthentic stars from America who have managed to hide behind publicists; no examples where you can go, “There’s a well-rounded person that’s thoroughly enjoying his lot.” He doesn’t exist.’
The singer with wife Ayda in 2018 (Picture: Getty)
The star, who made a celebrated return to Take That in 2011 for their album progress, which is the fifth fastest-selling album in UK history, scored his most recent solo number one with Candy in 2012.
The band currently have a film in the works, of the same name, while Robbie has released new album XXV ahead of a solo tour later this year.
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He has also become the latest star to get the Netflix documentary treatment, with cameras following the pop icon around as he navigates the highs and the lows of being in the limelight for a new multi-part show.
The as-yet-untitled docuseries was announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival last month and will be released in 2023.
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