The 51 year old discussed that he experiences what he terms "inside Tourette's" and considers himself to be an "olympian at masking" whilst on the I'm ADHD! No You're Not podcast with Paul Whitehouse and Dr Mine Conkbayir.
Speaking about his recent realisation, the former Take That singer said, "I’ve just realised that I have Tourette’s, but they don’t come out. I was just walking down the road the other day and I realised that these intrusive thoughts are ‘inside Tourette’s’."
The pop star discussed the extent of his struggles with his "inside Tourette's", "you would think that a stadium full of people professing their love to you would work, but whatever it is, inside me, cannot hear it. This tour in particular, as a 51-year-old, I’ve approached it differently because I seem to be in the space to approach things differently. I have a very complicated relationship with touring and performing live. People say: ‘Oh, you going on tour? You must be really, really excited.’ Not really. I’m terrified," he said.
Williams continued to explain that he masks his struggles with Tourettes, "I mask, like I’m an Olympian at masking. I will look full of bravado and look pompous and look smug and do these grand gestures, which have worked for me because they put my face on the poster and people still buy tickets but actually what’s happening is I feel like the opposite of that all the time, most of the time."
The singer revealed on the podcast that he had recently taken an online Autism test which came back negative, although showed that he had a lot of autistic traits, such as anxiety when he has to leave his safe space, his bed.
Williams went on to credit his wife Ayda Field Williams for helping him to change his perspective on performing live as she emphasised how lucky he is to be able to perform to so many people. She also expressed that he may not get the chance to perform in a stadium again.
"There was something about that moment in particular that just changed the perception, and the gratitude came in for where I am, who I am, what I’m allowed to do, what they allow me to do, what I experience. And in that moment, thinking about maybe never being able to do it again because of waning popularity or death or whatever it is, in that moment, it just changed my perception," he said.
