Robbie Williams has revealed he was ‘unable to leave the sofa’ for three years because of he battled with the crippling disorder agoraphobia.
During the toughest time of the condition – which leaves people fearful of situations they can’t escape – the star claimed he turned down a £15million deal to take over from Simon Cowell on US series American Idol because he couldn’t go out in public.
The singer, 45, told The Mirror: ‘It was my body and mind telling me I shouldn’t go anywhere, that I couldn’t do anything. It was telling me to just wait — so I literally just sat and waited.
Tragic: Robbie Williams has revealed he was ‘unable leave the sofa’ for three years because of he battled with the crippling disorder agoraphobia
‘I was agoraphobic from around 2006 to 2009. Those years were just spent wearing a cashmere kaftan, eating Kettle Chips, growing a beard and staying in.
The moment things changed of Robbie was when he heard the song Human by The Killers on the radio and the lyrics resonated with him.
They went: ‘And sometimes I get nervous / When I see an open door’.
It made Robbie get help with therapy, and he says he soon felt ready to return to the stage to perform.
‘Unable to leave the sofa: During the rock bottom of the condition he claims he turned down a £15million deal to take over from Simon Cowell on US series American Idol (pictured in 2006)
But dipping his toe back into public life didn’t turn out to be what he expected, when he faced an embarrassing mishap and harsh criticism on a comeback appearance on the X-Factor.
He described his foray back into stardom ‘like having a car crash and then learning how to walk again.’
During the performance, the sliding stage doors became stuck, and one critic described Robbie as ‘wide-eyed, unblinking and sweaty’ in his rendition of single, Bodies, adding that he ‘wasn’t the superstar he used to be’.
Way back when: He described his foray back into stardom ‘like having a car crash and then learning how to walk again’ (pictured in 2003)
Amazing: Tickets for the 2011 Progress tour broke the bands record for sales and put Robbie firmly back on the maps (pictured in 1992)
But it wasn’t until he received a call asking if he’d consider a Take That reunion that things changed for the better.
Tickets for the 2011 Progress tour broke the band’s record for sales and put Robbie firmly back on the map.
He told the publication: ‘There was no rhyme or reason why five minutes before that, it hadn’t happened. But when I did come back, it felt so unnatural. It’s why that Bodies performance was so bad — I didn’t know what the f**k I was doing, it didn’t seem natural to me any more.’
Party animal: Robbie famously fell down the rabbit hole of Class A drugs and booze and had a penchant for partying
The father-of-three also opened up about his body dysmorphic disorder – when a person believes they have a major flaw in their appearance.
He admits he has ‘appalling self image’ and has previously opened up about his fluctuating weight in the past – which saw Noel Gallagher dub him ‘Blobby’ Williams and ‘the fat dancer from Take That’.
He previously has revealed he is suffering from Nocturnal Sleep-related Eating Disorder [NS-RED] – a condition which means he eats in the middle of the night,
The former Take That singer is now more confident than he has ever been and is ‘starting to like himself a little bit more’.
Happy couple: He credits his wife Ayda Field, 40, to helping him get on the straight and narrow
Robbie, who famously fell down the rabbit hole of Class A drugs and booze and had a penchant for partying, credits his wife Ayda Field, 40, to helping him get on the straight and narrow.
But he also ‘gives himself a bit of a pat on the back’ for getting him through the darkest of times thanks to therapy.
The singer is now regarded as one of the most successful British artists in history, having sold nearly 90 million albums and won a record 18 Brit awards.
He has a Las Vegas residency under his belt and in 2002 signed the then biggest recording deal in British music history, worth a reported £80million.
Body confident: The former Take That singer is now more confident than he has ever been and is ‘starting to like himself a little bit more’