Robbie Williams' wild past laid bare: from quitting Take That to partying with Oasis

It is no secret that Robbie Williams had a wild past when it comes to partying and fame.

His life looks totally different now: he's still a rock star but he's also a married father-of-four with a retrospective world tour, a new Netflix documentary, an impending biopic and a background as a TV talent judge.

The mega star has blamed his wild past for "using up all the good stuff" in his body, telling The Sun: “The hair is thinning, the testosterone has left the building, the serotonin is not really here and the dopamine said goodbye a long time ago. I’ve used up all of the natural good stuff. I’ve got the manopause.

“The reality is that I’m just f***ing knackered from what I did to myself in the 90s and bits of the 2000s.”

Read more: What we know about the Robbie Williams Netflix documentary

So what was The Let Me Entertain You singer like before he became a Better Man?

Here's a flashback to his partying past, through dark times of sex and drug addiction, to finding love, sobriety and solo success.

Williams quit Take That

Williams quit Take That in July 1995 and couldn't wait to break free from his boyband boundaries.

The singer had a year off before launching his solo career and that time was spent enjoying himself to the max. He was regularly spotted out and about partying, enjoying the attention from fans and generally looking bleary-eyed.

There was nothing subtle in the message when he did finally release his first solo single in July 1996 - a cover of George Michael's Freedom.

Partying with Oasis

As part of his new found freedom and rebellion against boyband pop, Williams starting hanging out with Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher.

The lads all seemed to be having fun but behind the paparazzi pictures Williams was not as welcomed by his new friends as it seemed.

Noel Gallagher famously once called him, "the fat dancer from Take That".

Williams has since confessed: "Ultimately I'm a huge fan of Oasis and I was there and I was part of it and it was f***ing unbelievable and incredible hedonism and reckless abandon and rock and roll and let's turn it to 11, 12 and let's see where this goes.

"It's part of that competitive nature with me too and also they were gigantic bullies too..."

Old Before I Die

The No Regrets singer found himself addicted to drugs and alcohol as his partying spiralled out of control.

He has confessed to taking so much cocaine he felt paranoid and suicidal, and drinking excessively before going into the recording studio.

In July 2019, Williams told Jo Woods' Alien Nation podcast: “Instantly, I picked up on it being weird and dark and having an energy. The first time it manifested itself as something physical the ghetto blaster came on.

“I was doing a lot of coke at the time. I would be in the house but hear footsteps go up the stairs. It got progressively worse. She (his then-girlfriend) thought it was her granddad.

“I would get in the car and whatever it was would jump in the backseat. Two months in, I couldn’t deal with it any more. I thought if this stays with me I was going to commit suicide.”

The former Take That star has revealed it was friend Sir Elton John who eventually confronted him and made him check into rehab.

Sexed Up

The Bodies singer is a self-confessed sex addict.

Before finding his happy ever after with his wife Ayda Field, he was romantically linked to many female celebrities.

Williams has said: "My thing in the 90s was sex with strangers, I didn't know whether I'd be able to give that up."

But he met The One in May 2006 when US model Field featured in a documentary he produced for BBC Radio 4 about UFOs.

Field has said previously that Williams broke up with her multiple times before they eventually got married.

And the Rudebox singer has said his wife gives him "everything I want" in the bedroom department.

Moving on

After years of living to excess, Williams got sober, cleaned up his solo act to become a success again and found love with wife Field.

But he was still worried about whether he was able to stay on the straight and narrow.

He told This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield in 2009: "I'm just figuring out how you do it and how you go about this big change in your life. I've got the missus now and we're thinking of doing all of that and I'm just scared that I'm not going to be the best dad that I can be.

"Just cause I'm really selfish and I've been knocking about by myself for a really long time now. I'm 35 and I've done what ever I like whenever I like."

Better Man

Williams has been romancing his wife since 2006 and they have four children together.

The She's The One singer has said of their marriage: “We’re dead lucky because we make each other laugh and we like each other. We’ve not stopped liking each other.”

He has been sober for 21 years but admits he still struggles with an addictive personality - finding himself battling overeating and in 2020 he confessed his latest habit was online golf.

Williams has spent 2023 celebrating 25 years as a solo artist with a world tour and he will play himself in the soon to be released biopic of his career Better Man.

Read more: Robbie Williams

• Robbie Williams admits he’s slept with at least 110 women (Bang Showbiz, 2 min read)

• Robbie Williams admits soiling himself on stage (HuffPost, 2 min read)

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Netflix's four-part Robbie Williams documentary will be released on Wednesday, 8 November.