Robbie Williams has swapped cigarettes for crayons.

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

The 'Angels' hitmaker is determined to quit his nicotine habit and has found colouring in pre-drawn pictures is helping to relieve his cravings because it gives him something to focus on other than how much he's missing smoking.

Speaking in an Instagram Live video, he said: "I'm just doing some colouring in, which is good because I've got something to concentrate on.

"Art is good for my mind."

Robbie - who has children Teddy, six, Charlton, four, and Coco, four months, with wife Ayda Field - is finding quitting the deadly habit very difficult and has been experiencing panic attacks as a result.

He added: "Anyone who is giving up smoking with me, keep on. The struggle is real. I've been all right all week, it's been sort of six out of ten difficult and then in the last hour and a half I've just collapsed, panic attacks, over- whelmed . . . I've had to get out of the house just to calm down a little."

The 44-year-old pop star initially gave up smoking when Teddy was born but returned to his 40-a-day habit in 2016.

However, last year, the 'X Factor' judge pledged to making quitting for good his New Year's resolution because he wants to be around when his children grows up, though he's worried about the side effects of giving up.

He said: "On January 1 I'm going to stop smoking, does anyone want to join me?

"But I'm really scared about putting weight on. I'm terrified in fact about that, but staying alive for my children will be worth the weight gain . . . he said, lying to himself."