Dfter the docuseries on David Beckham released last month, now on Netflix it’s the turn of another British icon of the nineties and 2000s: Robbie Williams. Protagonist of an intense journey in four episodes down memory lane of a career that celebrates 25 years this year. Revealing to the world some secrets never confessed before by the former Take That. Let’s find out which ones.
Robbie Williams, 10 revelations from the Netflix series
1. Hate for Gary Barlow
Although Robbie’s thoughts on Take That and his feud with Barlow have been known for some time, the series reveals that Robbie was hostile to his bandmate from the start. “It was all about Gary and me I suffered a lot from it» declares the pop star who, over the course of the four episodes, also confides that his desire to become a world pop star was unconsciously, or not, a move to cripple Barlow’s career. Which actually happened.
You can also see some in the doc Stock footage of Robbie’s early concerts where he shouts to the audience «There’s someone here who boos me and that someone definitely likes Gary Barlow. Guys, he doesn’t sell records anymore. Let’s face it, he’s dead!». He is a phrase that today he regrets having uttered, as he confides to director Joe Pearlman.
2. The drugs behind Take That’s farewell
Robbie joined the band at just 16 years old, bringing with it the first substance abuse. “I’m going to get some alcohol!” she is seen screaming in some old footage. The pop star thus retraces a truly difficult period where she was unable to manage fame and at the same time free herself from her demons. «I was ingesting everything: ecstasy, cocaine, I literally drank a bottle of vodka every day before going to rehearsals.”
Robbie Williams on the set of the Netflix docuseries. (Courtesy Netflix)
Then, during preparations for a concert at Glastonbury, he shows up on stage without a tooth and the band’s manager begins to worry. “I was told: ‘That’s not how you act in a boy band“and the feeling of not being able to carry out the role that was asked of me was palpable.” And so Robbie left the boys in 1996 and started his solo career.
3. Angels: the song “save career”
Almost everyone knows by heart the poignant ballad that made thousands of people fall in love but perhaps few know that the success of the song was totally unexpected. In fact, after leaving Take That, Robbie recorded his first album in 1997 Life Thru a Lens but the first singles released did not convince the public. Robbie, still addicted to drugs and alcohol, is about to give up everything when a miracle happens. Angels released as the fourth single ed immediately enters the top 10 around the world. Literally saving his career.
4. The marriage proposal to Nicole Appleton
First famous girlfriend of a long seriesthe All Saints singer began dating Robbie in December 1997. It only lasted nine months but the feeling was deep, to the point that the singer also makes her a marriage proposal. As can be seen among other things in one of the archive films. In his autobiography published a few years ago, Nicole claims she aborted Robbie’s child under pressure from the record company and this was also one of the causes that led to the breakup a few months later. In 2000 Nicole met Liam Gallagher of Oasis and a relationship lasting 15 years will begin.
5. The flirtation with Geri Halliwell ended because of the paparazzi
After the release of the record album in 1998 I’ve Been Expecting YouRobbie becomes an absolute star and spends a whole year touring Europe and the United States. In search of inspiration for a third album, in 2000 he flew to the south of France together with the co-author of all his hits Guy Chambers and also travels with them Ginger Spice. Robbie remembers those days as the first truly happy ones in his life and with Geri everything is going swimmingly.
Then, again due to his alcoholic excesses, and a fame that has now made him almost paranoid, a few months later the singer broke up with the former Spice Girls. The reason? Always besieged by paparazzione day one of them he reveals to Robbie that it is Geri who calls them every time the two leave the house. Robbie believes him and dumps her but today, in hindsight, he declares that he absolutely does not believe this. Publicly apologizing to the ex.
6. The battle against eating disorders
Robbie also talks about for the first time in the documentary a disorder called “bigorexia” that accompanied him for years. That is, the desire to have a more muscular and leaner body. And he also courageously remembers a problem of anorexia in his youth that pushed him to eat only one banana a day and not to exceed 90 calories. Dark periods that today the pop star has largely overcome.
7. A drug dealer as an ex-girlfriend
Robbie’s relationship with drugs has been tumultuous and ongoing for a long time. Now clean for more than fifteen years, the singer recalled how at one point he had started a relationship with his morphine dealer is that the day he met his future wife, the actress Ayda Field, at a partyhe had just been in bed with the pusher.
8. Rudebox: “worst song ever”
Released in 2006, the song with rap influences came massacred without appeal by the English press. A period that Robbie defines as one of the most traumatic of his career. Unjustly attacked by the media for his apparently incoherent style and now far from the catchy songs of the past, Robbie also recalls a panic attack during a concert in Leeds. Which, unfortunately for him, is broadcast live on TV and attracts further criticism. Yet another battle against drugs will begin againthis time steroids.
9. The saving meeting with his wife Ayda
Linked since 2006 to the beautiful actress of Turkish originsWilliams recalls that the early days of their relationship were pretty messy. The pop star indeed is still a slave to drugs and despite the love at first sight, Ayda decides to break up after a very short time due to Robbie’s addiction. The singer closes in a rehab and luckily, when he is discharged, the two resume their relationship. The wedding took place in 2010 and two years later the couple’s first daughter Theodora arrived, followed by Charlton, Colette and Beau.
10. Peace with Take That
After the abrupt breakup in 1996, surprisingly Take That reunite in 2010 for a European tour awaited by thousands of fans. An opportunity that for Robbie is more than just meeting up with old bandmates. «I was still traumatized from the last tour with them that, somehow, it made me fragile and insecure on stage, even if you wouldn’t think so” says the pop star.
A fear that magically disappears when he’s back on the road with them, as Robbie recalls. «Only then did I feel able to perform again. There were five of us on stage and this helped me to “blend in” without disappearing from the eyes of the crowd. Thanks to them I healed after the Leeds trauma.”
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED