Nicki Chapman has recalled finding an unconscious Robbie Williams being injected with stimulants by Prince’s doctor, branding it ‘one of the scariest times of her life’.
The TV presenter, 57, and former music publicist worked with Take That during the height of band’s 90s fame and Robbie’s battle with addiction.
The singer was being injected with the substance in order to be able to join his bandmates on stage just hours later amid their tour in Germany.
Recalling the moment in her new book published in The Times, she wrote: ‘Was it the first time he’d ever had [the stimulants]? With me? Well, I don’t know’.
‘It was one of the scariest times of my life because he popped up like a Duracell bunny after that, but I was thinking, my God, it easily could have gone the other way. He was so young.’
Nicki Chapman, 57, has recalled finding an unconscious Robbie Williams being injected with stimulants by Prince’s doctor, branding it ‘one of the scariest times of her life’
Robbie, who is now clean and sober, was meanwhile wowing crowds as he took to the stage at Creamfields on Sunday with new electronic group Lufthaus
The TV presenter and former music publicist worked with Take That during the height of the band’s 90s fame and Robbie’s battle with addiction (Robbie pictured in 1997)
Robbie, who is now clean and sober, was meanwhile wowing crowds as he took to the stage at Creamfields on Sunday with new electronic group Lufthaus.
The star showcased his muscular arms in a white vest as he strutted his stuff and danced on top the DJ decks.
According to The Liverpool Echo he sent fans wild at the end of the set when the group swapped their dance music to play his classic ballad Angels, as he told his bandmates of the crowd: ‘See, I told you they know me.’
Robbie previously admitted at the time he was touring with Take That he would drink a bottle of vodka a day before rehearsals and was injected by a doctor after a six day bender.
Recalling one low point on a particularly wild weekend, he told The Sun last year: ‘I just went absolutely mental, taking absolutely anything I could in all quantities.
‘And then before the live show I was spewing my guts out with this black bile. It just filled the bathroom floor.
‘A doctor injected me with something, then I went and did the show. It made me scared. I did the show and then went back out again and carried on like nothing had happened.’
In his Netflix documentary Robbie revealed his life ‘spiralled out of control so severely’ after turning to drink.
The singer was being injected with the substance in order to be able to join his bandmates on stage just hours later amid their tour in Germany (Nicki pictured in 2002)
Nicki wrote: ‘It was one of the scariest times of my life because he popped up like a Duracell bunny after that, but I was thinking, my God, it easily could have gone the other way. He was so young’ (Late singer Prince pictured in 2009)
Robbie showcased his muscular arms in a white vest as he strutted his stuff and danced on top the DJ decks
According to reports he sent fans wild at the end of the set when the group swapped their dance music to play his classic ballad Angels
The singer also recalled becoming very ‘vengeful’ and ‘jealous’ of bandmate Gary Barlow, before eventually left the chart-topping band in 1995.
In the film Robbie said: ‘I was ingesting everything I could get my hands on – ecstasy, cocaine, drinking. I’m literally drinking like a bottle of vodka a night before going into rehearsals, so that’s happening every night.’
Speaking about his drug addiction, Robbie added: ‘We are looking at somebody in freefall, addicted to cocaine and alcohol. It’s impossible to help myself, it’s impossible to stop.
‘I don’t think there’s a chance to feel anything other than hungover and then not hungover because you are yet again in the process of creating a future hangover.
‘Everybody knew I was in trouble, but they didn’t care, I’d gone past the point of no return. My life had spiralled out of control so severely that my manager understood what needed to happen, I needed to be carted off to rehab.
‘I used to drink and do drugs because it helped me not feel this way, when you strip that away all the everything comes up that you’ve been suppressing and I’ve been suppressing that for years. I’m depressed and I’m mentally ill.’
Robbie, who was diagnosed with depression in his early twenties, continued: ‘People at this point still thought that if good things are happening to you and you’re successful, what is there to be upset about?
‘I had to go on stage in front of thousands of people feeling like you’re on the hundredth floor, the room’s burning and you either stay in the room or burn to death or you jump out of the window to your death. It’s that uncomfortable.’
Robbie previously admitted at the time he was touring with Take That he would drink a bottle of vodka a day before rehearsals and was injected by a doctor after a six day bender (pictured 1996)
He confessed: ‘I did the show and then went back out again and carried on like nothing had happened’ (pictured with Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald)
In his Netflix documentary (pictured) Robbie revealed his life ‘spiralled out of control so severely’ after turning to drink
Robbie revealed that he disliked bandmate Gary Barlow (right) so much that he became ‘vengeful’ – but has since apologised for his behaviour towards him (pictured in 1994)
Speaking about his feud with bandmate Gary, Robbie revealed that he disliked him so much that he became ‘vengeful’ – but has since apologised for his behaviour towards him.
He admitted that he ‘wanted to make him [Gary] pay’ as he was deeply jealous of his career and talents.
Robbie said: ‘I disliked Gary the most because he was the one that was supposed to have everything and the career and I wanted to make him pay. I was vengeful.
‘It seemed to be one person managing Take That and it was Gary Barlow – it was all geared around him.
‘And as a young person I would have been jealous of that. A lot of me resented him. I was going home from those days thinking this is weird and uncomfortable. It’s lord of the flies stuff.’
Robbie apologised to Gary for famously saying that he was ‘dead’ and calling him a ‘p****’ on stage: ‘I’m sorry that I treated Gary like that.’
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