Robbie Williams: 'I hate myself'

5 December 2020

Robbie Williams hates himself.

Robbie Williams

Although the 46-year-old singer says his self-loathing has become less intense over the years, he claims that he "won't have it that I'm any good".

Robbie told The Times Saturday Review: "Even though I hate myself I think I deserve to be content. I don't think it dictates and causes me misery and gives me a prison-like quality between my ears... but I won't have it that I'm any good."

Robbie says he has a constant negative internal monologue, which he refers to as 'Radio Rob', and he believes his insecurities date back to his time in boyband Take That.

He explained: "It stems from my peers not liking me because of the band that I was in. They were the cool crew, the people that I wanted to be. But they didn't like me, and that hurt. And then I had to figure out why it hurt so much, why everything hurt so much. I'm sure that if the cool crew did love me and I did 'quote unquote' worthy music then I'd be a tyrant."

However, these days Robbie is more concerned with what his and wife Ayda Field's four children - Theodora, nine, Charlton, six, Coco, two, and Beau, nine months - think about him.

He said: "I'm bothered about what my children think about me. Charlton is very much his own entity. I am needy and he's yet to figure out that I'm f****** great."

Robbie also admitted he previously didn't want children and spent the first two years of Theodora's life terrified of messing up.

He said: "I couldn't look after myself. When Theodora was born the first two years were just hell in my mind because I thought I was gonna f*** everything up. And then she started talking to me. And then I just wanted as many of these little things as I could get."

Regarding his parenting skills, he said: "If there was a grade for love it would be A plus. If there was a grade for actually getting down on my knees and doing the Lego I would give myself a D."

Robbie has battled addiction in the past but doesn't fear that he will relapse as he "wants to be well".

He said: "I'm just surrounded by the right people at the right time. I was surrounded by the right people when I was taking drugs and I'm surrounded by the right people now I'm not taking drugs. And also I'm a people pleaser and I wanna be well."