A lot is reflected in the four-part documentary series “(I am) Robbie Williams”. But what can we learn from this?
Robbie Williams once became famous with Take That, but he has also enjoyed worldwide success as a solo star. In the past, he repeatedly attracted attention with drug and alcohol excesses and was (and is) exposed to constant criticism from the public for this reason alone. In the Netflix documentary “(I am) Robbie Williams,” released on November 8th, he talks about the high and low points of his career.
The four-part series is about the beginnings with his boy band, the path to becoming a respectable solo artist, his drug problems, relationships and the pressure of being constantly in the spotlight as a celebrity. We looked at what you can take away from the Netflix production. Here are our six findings.
1. Robbie Williams = the one-man show
What we see in the documentary: At home, in his underwear on the bed, the Brit works through 30 years of archive material of his life. He comments with amusement and remembers with the help of interview and concert excerpts, but also with the help of private holiday videos. “I can’t escape my past,” he says. But his point of view remains. Other voices don’t find much space in the documentary, although other perspectives would have been exciting.
2. He was jealous of Gary Barlow
Archive scenes can be seen in which Williams makes faces at Barlow. Gary Barlow was the center of attention at the time and stood out from the group. This apparently really bothered the then 16-year-old Robbie Williams. In the documentary, his daughter Theodora asks him who her father hated most at Take That and why. The musician answers this frankly with the words: “I liked Gary the least because he was the one who was supposed to have everything and the career. And I wanted to make him pay. I was vindictive. So I had the career that he was supposed to have.”
3. Williams regrets his relationship with Geri Halliwell
In 2000, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Robbie Williams were a couple and both were new to the industry as solo artists. But after just a few months the relationship fell apart. Williams says in the documentary series that both were constantly followed by paparazzi. A heavy burden if you want to spend time together in peace and quiet. A paparazzo is said to have told him at the time that Halliwell himself had also informed the paparazzi where the two of them were currently staying. Williams then ended the romance – despite some doubts. Today he regrets this decision: “At the time I believed it.”
4. He suffered from bigorexia
Robbie Williams talks openly about his eating disorder in the Netflix format. Specifically, he says, among other things: “I had bigorexia, which means that you believe you no longer have any muscles and are small, coupled with anorexia.”
Bigorexia is known, among other things, as muscle addiction. Men in particular suffer from this. Those affected see their own muscle mass as insufficient compared to ideal expectations.
5. Back on stage despite a panic attack
The documentary also shows a concert recording from a show in Leeds. Robbie Williams had a panic attack in front of 90,000 spectators, but was still able to hide it from the audience and did the next, equally big show a day later. The singer clearly finds it difficult to watch these recordings again these days.
6. Ayda Field: It’s still great love
Robbie Williams met his current wife, Ayda Field, in 2006. He reports in the documentary that he had reached his personal low point at this point. Field visited him at home after a party while he was saying goodbye to his drug dealer, with whom he had previously slept. Nevertheless, Field stayed and the two talked throughout the evening. Finally, Field took care of the drug-addicted Williams and didn’t leave him alone. They married in 2010 and the couple now have four children together.