Robbie Williams slashed his wrists as he struggled to cope with fame.
Robbie Williams slashed his wrists as he struggled to cope with fame
The 49-year-old singer’s battles with depression and addictions to food and drugs are well documented, but he has now opened up for the first time about his suicide attempt – while also warning people need to be “careful” about what they say about celebrities as abuse can be dangerously “triggering”.
He told the Daily Mirror: “I read something that triggered me, somebody talking about celebs making mental health issues sexy.
“There is nothing sexy about taking a knife and slashing your own wrists that I did.”
When asked to clarify if he meant he had tried to kill himself, Robbie confirmed: “I am on about me slashing my own wrists.”
He also warned: “We need to be careful about what we say and how we say it.
“The reason I say that is to qualify that people are people, whether they are on MAFS (‘Married at First Sight’) or in 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?
“Thank God mental health is being talked about in a different way.”
Robbie also refers to his suicidal thoughts in his upcoming Netflix documentary, ‘Robbie Williams’, which is out 8 November.
He says in the film he thought it might be “best if I just passed away”.
After his years of torment, Robbie has insisted he’s now in a much happier place and is planning to keep performing until he is in his 80s like his music idols.
He told comic Rob Brydon, 58, on his ‘Brydon And’ podcast: “The future of me is Tom Jones and Rod Stewart, hopefully.
“Rod, at my age, released ‘The Great American Songbook’, which sold 70 million records or something.
“He’s still on tour, he’s still performing, he’s still putting albums out. So is Tom... The Rolling Stones. Why? They love it. What else would they do?”
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