Robbie Williams has shared a sad update on his mum Janet’s health.
The Angels hitmaker, 51, is the son of Peter and Janet Williams. They divorced in the 70s when Robbie was just three years old, and Robbie’s relationship with his entertainer father, who became known as Pete Conway, grew complicated.
However, the pop star has always been close with his parents, hailing his dad as one of the most ‘influential’ figures in his life as he supported him throughout his rise to stardom.
Meanwhile, Janet, 84, raised Robbie on her own after her marriage ended, playing a pivotal part in shaping him as a man and an artist.
Now, though, the tables have turned, and Robbie is looking after his family instead, having revealed recently that Janet is unable to recognise him due to dementia.
Speaking to fans at a concert in Germany, the Rock DJ singer said: ‘My mother has dementia, and she doesn’t know who I am anymore.
‘She doesn’t know where she is anymore.’
He also spoke about his dad’s health battles, as per The Sun.
‘My dad has Parkinson’s, and he can’t leave the house,’ Robbie shared.
‘He used to sing with me every night on stage; he would come out, steal the show, and be charming and then wander backstage for a glass of red wine.
‘Now he can’t leave the house.’
Unfortunately, the health woes don’t end there for Robbie’s loved ones, as he said his wife Ayda Field’s mother, Gwen, is also poorly.
Robbie, who has been married to the American actress since 2010, spoke highly of her, adding: ‘My mother-in-law, who I absolutely worship and adore, has three illnesses.
‘She’s got lupus, Parkinson’s, and cancer. She is the most courageous lady, and she is fighting, fighting, fighting.’
Lupus is a condition that affects the immune system, causing problems with the skin, joints, kidneys, and other organs. The likes of Selena Gomez and Bella Hadid have spoken openly about living with it.
Meanwhile, Parkinson’s disease causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over many years.
Gwen has faced breast cancer before, but Ayda confirmed last year that her mother’s cervical cancer had returned, which she noted was ‘a really tough thing’ for her to speak about while on Loose Women.
Family man Robbie, who has four children of his own, explained that it’s taken a lot of adjusting for him to be the ‘adult’ now.
‘It’s a strange place to be, this place we find ourselves, 51 years old; it’s very strange to be the grown-up,’ he confessed. ‘I’m not ready for it.’
Robbie has long spoken about adoration for his mum and dad, stating last December that he ‘didn’t know’ how to cope with their declining health.
The ex-Take That member opened up to The Mirror about the tricky situation: ‘The truth is that I’m very busy, and I’m not dealing with the situation as I should. I don’t really know how to do it; it’s an incredibly complicated thing.
‘But I prefer not to go into details, you know, if I say something, they might read it, and then I would have to answer a lot of questions.’
‘Let’s put it this way: we are all human beings, with our difficulties, and I am trying to deal with mine,’ Robbie concluded.
Robbie’s late grandmother also had dementia, which was depicted in his biopic Better Man.
Asked last year what his parents thought of the film, Robbie told Hello! Magazine that he was in ‘a different part of [his] life right now.’
It comes after he spent much of the Covid-19 pandemic panicking about his parents while he and Ayda isolated in Los Angeles, thousands of miles away.
At the time, Robbie called them ‘daily’ due to how ‘vulnerable’ they were.
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