Robbie Williams revealed that there was a contract out to kill him at the height of his fame.

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

The 'Rock DJ' hitmaker revealed that "people wanted to beat him up" and that his life was even in danger after he shot to stardom with Take That in the 1990s.

Recalling how his life changed after fame, Robbie said: "I come from Stoke. I love my hometown, not being able to go there or go out straight away when I was 17.

"People wanted to beat me up everywhere I went. There was a contract out on me to kill me at one point, which I have never talked about."

Robbie admits that he struggled to cope with the demands of being in the spotlight and craved a "return to normality" despite his music success.

The 46-year-old singer told Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast: "Instantly my life was viewed through one filter and then within a matter of five, six, seven months I had been catapulted to Mars on a spaceship.

"I was expected to know how to man that spaceship and make it land properly and take care of myself and be safe. And I just wasn't; I wanted to return to normality.

"I wanted my cake and eat it, while being able to fulfil what I presumed was going to be my destiny, I didn't know that fighting against it was futile."

The 'Let Me Entertain You' singer revealed that he had suicidal thoughts at the height of his success.

Robbie explained: "I was gifted with the opportunity to reach the top of the mountain.

"At one point in my career I sold the most tickets that anybody had sold in the history of music, I got the biggest record contract that anybody had had in the history of music. And I wanted to kill myself."

Robbie also explained how a quote from Simon Cowell changed his frame of mind towards life in the limelight.

He said: "Simon Cowell said one line once, and it changed my frame of how I think about things. He just said: 'Embrace the madness.'"