BY: Denver Sean
Published 1 year ago
Robbie Williams is being honest about his recent weight loss.
via People:
In a new interview with the Times, the British singer-songwriter, 49, came right out and admitted that he has shed more than 25 pounds with the help of medication.
“Babe, I’m on Ozempic. Well, something like Ozempic,” he revealed. “It’s like a Christmas miracle.”
He went on to jokingly explain that the drug is helping him more than physically.
“And I need it, medically. I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 self-loathing,” he said. “It’s shockingly catastrophic to my mental health to be bigger. My inner voice talks to me like Katie Hopkins talks about fat people. It’s maddening.”
Williams’ self-described health kick — in addition to taking medication, he has cleaned up his diet — comes as a new Netflix docuseries premiering on Nov. 8 will examine his life and career, including his mental health and addiction struggles.
The former Take That member, who has been sober for 20 years, told the Times he can hardly bear to watch the footage from his tumultuous past — but that’s exactly what he was forced to do. The docuseries features Williams reacting to and providing commentary on the chaotic events of his life.
“It was like watching a crash you were involved in, but in slo-mo. [Making the documentary] was like enduring your mental illness at a very, very slow pace, over a very, very long time. And it’s a niche thing to experience, you know. There aren’t many support groups for it,” he said.
“When they asked me to make the documentary, I came up with a jingle for it. ‘Trauma watch!/ Trauma watch!/ Have a trauma watch!/ I was in Take That then I left Take That/ Then I did drugs and I got real fat.’ “
Williams proceeded to rattle off the diagnoses he has since received in the intervening years. “Dyspraxia, dyslexia, ADHD, neurodiversity, body dysmorphia, hypervigilance… There’s a new one that I acquired recently: HSP. Highly sensitive person. Post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD],” he said. “And, obviously, I have an addictive personality. … I am collecting them all, like Scout badges.”
While he finally has the clarity of the diagnoses, Wiliams has never been shy about his mental health. Long before it became more commonplace for celebrities to speak openly about those sort of challenges, the “Angels” singer revealed publicly in 2004 that he took antidepressants.
“There was a line I wanted to have in the documentary, which we had to lose in the end. ‘I moaned, so Lewis Capaldi could wail!’ ” Williams joked of being a trailblazer with his candor on the subject.
As difficult as the documentary process was, Williams said the experience ultimately was a cathartic one. “The documentary puts all the past to bed. I feel lucky now,” he told the Times.
The musician — who is married to wife Ayda Field and a father to four kids — also admitted that he believes mental health challenges are a prerequisite for being creative.
“And if they don’t have them at the beginning, they do by the end. No one gets a free pass in the extreme fame game. No one comes out the other side well adjusted and happy and mentally well. Name me one,” he said.
We appreciate the honesty.
