Robbie Williams had his line “I moaned, so Lewis Capaldi could wail” cut from his upcoming Netflix documentary.
The former Take That singer, 49, who suffers from a litany of mental health issues, will be seen delving into them in the four-part film ‘Robbie Williams’, which is out on 8 November, but said the decision was made to slash his reference to how his openness about his troubles has helped Tourette’s-stricken Lewis Capaldi talk about his condition and perform.
Robbie told The Times Magazine: “There was a line I wanted to have in the documentary, which we had to lose in the end. ‘I moaned, so Lewis Capaldi could wail.’ Stonking!
“But that is what I was. Lewis Capaldi without the tic.”
Robbie’s film, directed by Joe Pearlman – who made ‘Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now’ – has been billed by Netflix as a “first of its kind” film that will “explore the real human being behind the salacious headlines”.
The documentary will chart Robbie’s rise to fame as a teen in Take That to his
struggles with mental health, addiction, his time in rehab and how he recreated himself as one of the world’s most successful solo acts.
Lewis, 27, was diagnosed with Tourette’s in his late twenties and recently said it has become so severe he has thought about giving up music as it piles pressure on him which worsens his tics.
Robbie also told The Times all the members of Take That – Gary Barlow, 52, Howard Donald, 55, Mark Owen, 51, and 53-year-old Jason Orange – have had their struggles.
He said: “All the boys have mentioned this publicly, so I’m not busting anyone’s privacy.
“You’ve got Gaz, who became bulimic and agoraphobic and didn’t leave his house, who forgot how to write songs and slept under his piano.
“You’ve got Howard, who contemplated suicide. You’ve got Mark, who ended up in rehab.
“You’ve got Jason, who can’t hack it and has just, like, disappeared.
“And then you’ve got me. So that’s your case study: there’s something that solidifies and calcifies in those five years – which is the traditional lifespan of a boy band – that causes mental illness. It’s five out of five.”
