Emotional Robbie Williams fights back tears on The One Show as he opens up on new Netflix documentary
ROBBIE Williams looked close to tears as he revealed that his new Netflix documentary was “traumatic” to film as he was forced to relive his addition battles.
The Angels singer, 49, joined Alex Jones and Roman Kemp on Friday’s instalment of The One Show and opened up about his mental health struggles, saying it was hard to watch footage of himself when he was at his lowest.
Looking emotional, Robbie – who shares children Theodora, ten, Charlton, eight, Coco, four, and three-year-old Beau, with wife Ayda Field – praised his spouse for changing his life for the better.
At the start of the interview, the doting dad did a special shout out to his youngest two at the start of the interview.
He proudly said: “First of all, hi Coco and Beau, daddy loves you. They’re staying up late just for this. Love you Coco, love you Beau. I do have two others, I’m aware of you.”
TV presenter Alex then asked why he felt it was the right time to share his story on the giant streaming platform.
He replied: “Netflix asked now, they didn’t ask five years ago and they may not ask five years in the future and it’s an honour for them to even ask.”
Roman then asked: “You’re watching back some incredible footage that you’ve got – what do you think were the main emotions you got watching it all back? What did it really feel like?”
The She’s the One hitmaker replied: “People in general don’t like looking at photographs of themselves and I know people in general don’t like listening to their own voice.
“To be made to, of my own choosing, to sit down and look at me and listen to my own voice for one was awful.
“And then to go through the trials and tribulations of many nervous breakdowns and alcoholism and addictions and isolation and agoraphobia.
“All of the things that I’m collecting scout badges, it’s a trauma watch.”
Looking glass-eyed, Robbie said: “It was a trauma watch for me.
“Hopefully people will watch episode one and get all the way to episode four and if they do, I’ll send you want of my mental illness badges.”
They then showed a clip of Robbie singing his popular track Angels at Glastonbury in 1995.
Roman then asked if Robbie’s mental health had suffered at the peak of his solo career.
“It’s never stopped really, it’s only been since meeting my gorgeous wife and having our kids that I’ve grown up,” Robbie explained.
“Who knows what this life has to offer, it has a way of throwing down obstacles and speed bumps.
“But definitely becoming a dad has changed me and how I view the world and having the love and support of an incredible woman has been the making of me.
“Right now I’m happy.”
Robbie said that the Netflix documentary should be catalogued as a “trauma watch” and told The Times: “It was like watching a crash you were involved in, but in slo-mo.
“Making the documentary was like enduring your mental illness at a very, very slow pace, over a very, very long time.”
He wrote a self-deprecating ditty for the film.
It went, ‘I was in Take That then I left Take That — then I did drugs and I got real fat’.
He joked: “They didn’t use that in the end.”
Robbie was known for his wild lifestyle during the noughties – including steamy romances with pop divas Nicole Appleton and Geri Halliwell.
The singer has since been diagnosed with ADHD and body dysmorphia.
