Robbie Williams opens up about feeling “anxiety” and discomfort” when interacting with fans in public

Robbie Williams has opened up about the “discomfort” he feels when fans approach him for photos.

• READ MORE: ‘Better Man’ review: Robbie Williams flick might be the strangest music biopic ever

Taking to Instagram, Williams penned an emotional note to fans, detailing his “gratitude” for them, as well as providing an explanation about his anxieties surrounding taking pictures in public, saying: “This isn’t a complaint, it’s context.”

Touching on the “unspoken law” that celebrities should be accessible 24/7, he described a recent domestic flight across the US where one fan had handed him a “lovely note” and asked for a photo. “I explained I’d been up since 04:30, had two hours’ sleep, and wrangled four kids through the airport. I’ve got bags under my eyes and I’m dealing with anxiety,” he said in the lengthy post.

“I explained that if they came and took a photo with me, my anxiety would spike – because then the whole cabin would start wondering who I am.” The ‘Angels’ singer said the scenario would add more anxiety to his “already thriving” sense of unease.

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“These days, I see it as being of service,” he said of taking pictures with fans. “If it makes someone happy – and I can – then I’ll do my best to facilitate that happiness. I didn’t always see it that way. But I do now. Mostly. Still. I think there needs to be a caveat.” He went on to explain that he felt a pressure to greet all strangers as if he were the “mayor of the best town anyone’s ever visited” to make sure fans walked away from interactions happy.

“Otherwise – you’re a c*nt,” he added. “There’s no in-between.” Williams also mentioned he was sure that half the people he met “couldn’t name one of my albums, let alone say they’ve bought a ticket to a show,” but clarified: “If we cross paths in the wild and you are a fan of me, I want you to tell me. That means a lot. I’ll make time. I’ve got gratitude for that. It warms my heart when I feel I’ve warmed yours.”

He rounded off his post, which you can read in full above, by saying meeting strangers filled him with “discomfort”.

“I mask it well,” wrote Williams. “But social interaction still frightens me. So much so, I didn’t go out for years. I had to relearn how to interact. And I had to do it without drugs or drink. I used to find it impossible. Now I’m… Ok-ish. But still crawling inside.”

His struggle with depression and substance abuse has been well documented, with his rapid rise to fame charted in the recent biopic, Better Man.

We spoke to Williams last year for the biopic, where he and director Michael Gracey discussed the origin of the idea of having a monkey play Williams for the entire biopic.

When Gracey first asked Williams what animal he thought he’d be, Williams told NME: “Lion. I was trying to get some self-worth for myself at the time – and still, every day. Chin out, chest out – lion. And Michael just went: [looks uncertain]. I went: ‘Monkey?’ He went, ‘Yeah, OK,’ and pitched me the idea and I was totally onboard. Because that’s it, innit? I’m a cheeky monkey, aren’t I?

“If they said, on Family Fortunes, ‘We asked 100 people, “What animal is Robbie Williams?”’, the people that don’t hate me would probably go, ‘He’s a monkey.’”

Williams, who is due to tour at the same time as Oasis’ highly anticipated reunion tour, has called their tour “nostalgia on steroids”.

“Liam’s voice is peerless,” he added. “And he was, and is the voice of a generation. So I think that for British people – and Manchester – it will be a very important moment. Hopefully it’ll be healing for the lads too.”

In other news, Robbie Williams recently opened up about being diagnosed with scurvy, calling it a “17th-century pirate disease”.

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