Robbie Williams Recalls Being ‘So Depressed’ and ‘Downing’ a Bottle of Vodka

Robbie Williams reflected on one of the darker periods of his life during the height of Take That fame.

In a new Take That documentary, which premiered on Tuesday, Jan. 27, the English singer-songwriter recalled a harrowing time in the mid-’90s amid his mental health and addiction struggles.

In the Netflix documentary, the English boy band’s lead singer Gary Barlow says he’s always felt “embarrassed” that he missed the “off-the-rails stuff” starting with Williams, now 51.

“No one was looking side-to-side to see how everyone was,” he added. “We were just going forward.”

Band member Howard Donald recalled seeing the change in Williams when he was “jumping up and down on the stage with his bulbous eyes with all this f—ing energy.”

“He did look like he was on something,” Donald, now 57, said of Williams at the time.

Former bandmate Jason Orange claimed Williams was becoming “more rebellious and more belligerent” and appeared to lose interest in Take That.

According to Williams, he was suffering at the time.

“I was so depressed,” he said. “I was going back to my hotel, downing a bottle of neat vodka. And I would just drink myself into oblivion.”

According to Williams he was “physically and mentally” gone.

“I was 19, 20, and I was, you know, in the middle of being a raging alcoholic,” he said. “It was the worst for my alcoholism at that time.”

Williams said that he couldn’t wake up or start the day “without probably downing a bottle of vodka.”

He recalled that he’d go into rehearsals after heavily drinking and he wouldn’t be “fit” to do them.

“My body would be full of crap, and my head’d hurt. and I couldn’t take in information at the best of times,” said Williams.

That led to a meeting where the “Angels” hitmaker decided to split from the band.

“Something just snapped in my head,” said Williams.

Williams’ public struggle with addiction and mental illness ultimately led to tensions resulting in his initial departure from Take That in 1996.

In 2010, he returned to the band, after reconciling with his bandmates. However, he left the group again in 2011 to focus on his solo career.

Take That is out now on Netflix.