Robbie Williams has revealed he has been diagnosed with autism, saying the diagnosis has helped explain some of his behaviour.
The singer, who has previously spoken publicly about having ADHD and his mental health struggles, said he recently discovered that he is autistic.
Speaking during a Q&A at the Autumn/Winter launch of his clothing brand Hopeium at Flannels, Williams said he has embraced the diagnosis.
“I have ADHD and I just found out I have a bit of autism as well, which I actually love because it explains so much,” he said.
“It is my get out of jail free card now, and all the weird stuff that I do I just say ‘sorry I'm autistic’.”
Robbie Williams. Photo Credit: Jason Hetherington
As reported by the Daily mail, the 52-year-old also explained how he uses creativity to help manage his thoughts and focus his attention.
“With the ADHD you can completely and utterly concentrate on something 1000 per cent, but with absolutely everything else, you just cannot do it. Ask my kids,” he said.
“What I’m completely and utterly obsessed with is creating images and making funny things. If I’m creating images and funny things, I’m not thinking about me, because my brain is incredibly creative, and it can be creative about everything in the world that you panic or scared about.”
Williams also spoke about experiencing intrusive thoughts, describing how they can sometimes become extreme.
“For example, this is how crazy I am, recently I was sitting on a plane, and I thought ‘what if I can have telekinesis and my intrusive thoughts tell the plane to crash itself’,” he said.
“So that’s the kind of level of insanity that I’m dealing with. It’s best to train my brain to do something better than worrying about having supernatural powers and crashing a plane.”
According to the NHS, autism is a difference in how the brain develops which can affect how a person sees and experiences the world. It can affect communication, as well as the way a person thinks, learns and pays attention.
Robbie Williams. Photo credit: Oscar Gonzalez Fuentes, Shutterstock
Williams has spoken openly about his mental health and ADHD throughout his career.
Last year, appearing on the podcast I’m ADHD! No You’re Not, he described himself as an “Olympian at masking”, saying he often presents himself publicly in a confident and flamboyant way despite feeling very differently internally.
“I’m an Olympian at masking because what I managed to do, to my detriment as well, is I will look full of bravado and look pompous and look smug and do these grand gestures,” he said.
“But actually, what’s happening is, I feel like the opposite of that all the time.”
Singer Robbie Williams performs in 2017, in Italy. Photo credit: Andrea Raffin, Shutterstock
He has also previously spoken about experiencing intrusive thoughts in connection with Tourette syndrome.
“I was just walking down the road the other day, and I realised that these intrusive thoughts are inside Tourette’s. It just doesn’t come out,” he said.
Williams has continued to discuss his mental health in recent interviews, telling The Independent in January that it had taken him almost two decades to work through his struggles.
“It took me nearly a couple of decades to fight through it, and now I’m at the other end and it’s beautiful,” he said.
