Robbie Williams ‘annoyed’ over questions about his sexuality as he addresses gay rumours-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

Robbie Williams has spoken candidly about his sexuality (Picture: Gisela Schober/Getty Images for Bunte)

Robbie Williams has admitted to feeling ‘sad’ when people speculated about his sexuality.

The 50-year-old pop star – who is married to actress Ayda Field, 45 – has spent years fending off rumours about his love life, but he’s adamant stories about him being secretly gay just aren’t true.

Robbie, who was catapulted to stardom as a member of Take That in the 90s, was hit with claims he had a ‘secret gay lover’ in 2004, which resulted in him suing for libel and winning.

Reflecting on the conjecture and why he took legal action, he said in a new interview to promote his biopic: ‘I was annoyed. I was more sad. Not about gay accusations because, look, I’ve done everything but suck a c**k.

‘Honestly, you’ve never met somebody that wants to be gay as much as me.’

Robbie went on to explain further using a football club analogy, adding: ‘I’m a Port Vale fan, and it’s like somebody going, “Well, you’re a Liverpool fan.”

Robbie rose to fame in the 90s as part of Take That alongside Jason Orange, Howard Donald, Gary Barlow, and Mark Owen. (Picture: Tim Roney/Getty Images)

He’s promoting his biopic, Better Man (Picture: WireImage)

‘And me saying, “No I’m not; I’m a Port Vale fan.” When somebody says you’re a Liverpool fan a hundred times, it’s like, “I’m not a f***ing Liverpool fan; why do people think I’m a Liverpool fan?”‘

Robbie concluded to the Guardian newspaper: ‘You want to be an ally while at the same time protecting your own authenticity and your own life.’

Maintaining a nonchalant attitude towards sexuality, he declared that if he ‘wants to suck a c**k, [he’ll] suck a c**k’.

‘Who’s going to f****ing stop me? My wife? The beard!’, he quipped.

A ‘beard’ is a slang term used to describe a person who is used, either knowingly or unknowingly, to conceal a person’s sexual orientation.

In the past, queer actors and musicians have spoken about publicly dating members of the opposite sex to prevent gay rumours.

Bearding in Hollywood actually dates back to the 1920s when studios began including morality clauses in the contracts they presented to their performers.

Robbie has been married to Ayda Field for 14 years (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)

As for Robbie, the Angels hitmaker has four children with Ayda – Teddy, 11, Charlie, nine, Coco, five, and four-year-old Beau – and they have been married for 14 years.

This isn’t the first time he has spoken about his sexual orientation as, in 2016, he told Attitude that he felt embraced by the LGBTQ+ community, especially after performing in gay clubs back in the day.

‘I was raised in a society where gay was the thing you levelled at somebody you wanted to hurt the most. So then being exposed to this world that I loved being a part of… I took my first ecstasy at a gay club [and] had the most incredible time,’ he said.

Robbie went on to speak about homophobia, adding: ‘I was sort of left as a 21-year-old going, “Actually, I don’t hate the gays… so does that mean that I’m gay, too?” I was 21 or 22, and I was like, “Oh, that must mean that I’m somewhat gay, in some sort of way”.’

The star and his wife had previously planned to renew their wedding vows to celebrate their 10th anniversary, but they had to scrap the idea due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so they held a belated ceremony earlier this year.

In an Instagram message, Robbie wrote at the time: ‘Oh, Me and Ayda renewed our vows. I am very, very very grateful. I’m grateful right now. I’m not in the future, tired and stressed. I’m right here right now grateful.’

Ayda previously reflected on the pair’s wedding day back in 2010, telling Hello! Magazine: ‘Wow, what a journey we’ve been on, what a beautiful, blessed journey.

Robbie pictured in 1992 (Picture: News Group Newspapers Ltd/REX/Shutterstock)

He previously sued for libel after it was claimed he had a ‘gay lover’ (Picture: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/REX/Shutterstock)

‘I feel grateful to know that the man I’m in love with there is still the man I’m married to today, but even better.

‘To have our families there, too, you don’t realise how precious these moments are.’

She added that the couple has ‘had a remarkable run’ and their wedding day was merely ‘the start of it’.

‘It’s a beautiful thing when you’re in a healthy relationship. I feel very blessed that he inspires me to be a better person, and I inspire him too.’

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