Robbie Williams has revealed he once ‘slit his wrists’ in a bid to end his life in a candid discussion about the pressures of fame and his battle with drink and drugs.
The former Take That singer, 49, who is set release a brand new Netflix documentary charting his rollercoaster career, hit back at celebrities being mocked for opening up about their mental health struggles and the suggestion that they only do so in a bid to make the topic ‘sexy’.
He told The Mirror: ‘There is nothing sexy about taking a knife and slashing your own wrists that I did. We need to be careful about what we say and how we say it.’
Clarifying this point, he said: ‘I am on about me slashing my own wrists. The reason I say that is to qualify people are people, whether they are on MAFS [Married At First Sight] or Martin Scorsese’s new film.
‘We need to be careful what we accuse people of. You think such and such is laying it on thick for attention saying they have autism. It is not OK.’
Revelation: Robbie Williams, 49, has revealed he once ‘slit his wrists’ in a bid to end his life in a candid discussion about the pressures of fame and his battle with drink and drugs
Dark times: The former Take That singer hit back at celebrities being mocked for opening up about their mental health struggles (pictured in 1996)
He later shared with The Sun about his much publicised battle with addiction and recalled going on a six-day bender.
He told the publication that despite vomiting ‘black bile’ he continued his binge of cocaine and vodka only to realise later how close he was to death.
Robbie believed he was ‘indestructible’ but was in fact ‘on a fast-track to death’, admitting: ‘I thought I could snort the most, take the most pills, drink the most and I thought that was a superpower at the time.
‘I didn’t know that was my fast-track to death. You feel like you’re indestructible, I didn’t feel I was going to die. It’s only subsequently I realise I was close.
He added: ‘I stayed awake for six days. I was with somebody with deals to the dealers and it was a six-day bender, and it went very quickly.’
Robbie again reflected on his mental health battles in the latest trailer for his upcoming Netflix docu-series.
It dropped ahead of the four-part show’s release on November 8, which will combine never-before-seen footage of Robbie with new interviews.
Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of his solo career, the series will give an intimate look at his never-before-seen personal archive spanning 30 years.
Shocking: He later opened up about his much publicised battle with addiction and recalled going on a six-day bender
Scary: He said that despite vomiting ‘black bile’ he continued his binge of cocaine and vodka only to realise later how close he was to death (pictured in 1997)
In the new trailer he began by reflecting on his journey and career before candidly telling how things started to get difficult, resulting in a ‘nervous, mental breakdown in front of thousands of people’.
Robbie – who shares Teddy, 10, Charlie, eight, Coco, four, and Beau, three, with his wife Ayda – mused: ‘It’s astounding what’s happened in my life. But the past has me in a headlock.
‘Something has to give. You’re only supposed to do this at the pearly gates with Saint Peter this looking back at your life.’
He added of being thrust into the spotlight at a young age: ‘When I joined Take That I was 16 it was insane. I was the centre of the pop culture world.
‘I felt like I was giving more and more of myself away to the point where you don’t recognise yourself any more.
‘Being in the spotlight you can’t trust anybody. I was having a nervous, mental breakdown in front of thousands of people.
‘The thing that would destroy me has also made me successful. Touch the fire, push when it says pull and see if I can live. I don’t know how easy it is for people to get to know me.’
Robbie has been very open about his ongoing battle with mental illness and his history of depression and anxiety. And when his fame was at an all-time high, the pop star hit his lowest point.
From 2006 to 2009, Williams battled agoraphobia. The social anxiety disorder left him housebound for three years.
He has previously revealed he went into rehab in 2007 after taking speed, acid, heroin, cocaine and ‘heart-stopping’ amounts of prescription drugs.
Having overcome his addictions, Robbie is focusing on his career and has revealed he plans to build a luxury hotel in Dubai after an encounter in a Las Vegas establishment made him ‘very angry’.
He went on to explain that the idea came after he was charged $240 for a basic breakfast while staying at a hotel in Vegas.
Icon: Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of his solo career, Robbie’s upcoming Netflix series will give an intimate look at his never-before-seen personal archive spanning 30 years
During an appearance on Wondery’s Brydon & podcast, he said: ‘I’m building a hotel, 700 rooms in Dubai… I built a hotel in my head and I build what it looks like.
‘I was in the Wynn hotel in Vegas doing a residency. I remember waking up and being charged $240 for breakfast. And it was like two croissants, a bowl of bran flakes and a coffee and I was like, “f**k off.”
‘And I got really angry and then I was just like, I’ll build my own hotel. That was the thought from getting angry about this breakfast costing too much and I got angry about the mini bar where if you open it and you pick something up, it charges and I was like, f**k off. No.’
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