Robbie Williams has shared that he’s been diagnosed with autism.
The solo pop star and former Take That member, who has previously opened up about having ADHD, spoke about learning that he is autistic during a recent Q&A session in London.
“I have ADHD, and I just found out I have a bit of autism as well, which I actually fucking love because it explains so much,” he said (via Metro).
“It is my get-out-of-jail-free card now, and all the weird shit that I do I just say, ‘Sorry, I’m autistic’.”
Williams continued: “With the ADHD you can completely and utterly concentrate on something 1,000 per cent, but with absolutely everything else, you just cannot do it. Ask my kids.
“What I’m completely and utterly obsessed with is creating images and making funny things. If I’m creating images and funny things, I’m not thinking about me, because my brain is incredibly creative, and it can be creative about everything in the world that you panic or scared about.”
He went on: “For example, this is how crazy I am: recently, I was sitting on a plane, and I thought, ‘What [if] I can have telekinesis and my intrusive thoughts tell the plane to crash itself’.
“So that’s the kind of level of insanity that I’m dealing with, it’s best to train my brain to do something better than worrying about having supernatural powers and crashing a plane.”
Williams has opened up about dealing with anxiety and depression in the past, too. Last year, he explained that he had been living with what he called “inside Tourette’s”, which causes “intrusive thoughts” (via Vanity Fair).
Speaking to NME in 2024 around the release of his biopic, Better Man, Williams shared: “One of my strengths – being ADHD and neurodivergent and being on the spectrum – is that I don’t pick up on the cues of stuff that you’re not supposed to say… until the thing that I’ve said reaches the person’s ears and they go: [looks shocked]. I go: ‘Did I do a thing?’”
The singer went on to suggest that he could have a form of autism, joking that it was “a useful tool for a filmmaker that wants to exploit that”.
Williams released his latest studio album, ‘Britpop’, in January. He subsequently topped The Beatles’ all-time record for the most UK Number One albums with the project. The star previously admitted that the prospect of dethroning the Fab Four was something he wanted “more than anything in my career right now”.
In other news, Williams has announced a pair of huge outdoor shows in the UK and Ireland for next summer. The dates are scheduled to take place shortly after Glastonbury 2027, sparking rumours that he’ll appear at Worthy Farm.
Williams said in 2023 that he believes he’d “slaughter” Glasto’s coveted Legends Slot if he was booked.
Meanwhile, the singer recently responded to claims that a white object falling onto his microphone during a World Cup television interview was cocaine.
