Robbie Williams has shared that he has a ‘bit of autism’, which he has joked he uses as a ‘get out of jail free card’ in weird situations.
The Take That singer, 52, has previously revealed he had ADHD and has now opened up further about having the neurodevelopmental condition, which also comes with ‘intrusive thoughts’.
During a recent Q&A, he said: ‘I have ADHD and I just found out I have a bit of autism as well, which I actually f****** love because it explains so much.
‘It is my get-out-of-jail-free card now, and all the weird s*** that I do I just say, “Sorry, I’m autistic.’
He admitted his approach has been to ‘train his brain to be creative’ to block out thoughts that could make it ‘panic and scared’.
As he explained at the autumn/winter launch of his clothing brand Hopeium at Flannels, attended by the Daily Mail, he is ‘completely and utterly obsessed with creating images and making funny things’.
Sharing an example of how his mind worked, he explained: ‘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”.
‘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.’
As outlined on the NHS website, ‘autism is a difference in how your brain develops that affects how you see and experience the world. It is often called a type of neurodivergence.’
This latest frank discussion on his autism diagnosis comes just months after he spoke about having ‘inside tourette’ syndrome – which links to the intrusive thoughts he mentioned.
‘I’ve just realised that I have Tourette’s, but they don’t come out.
‘They are intrusive thoughts that happen, 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 told a podcast last October.
His various neurological conditions have also made it difficult for him to perform live, sharing that he has a ‘complicated relationship’ with touring.
‘People say: “Oh, you’re going on tour? You must be really, really excited.” Not really. I’m terrified. I mask, like I’m an Olympian at masking,’ he explained.
Last month, the chart-topping music artist made headlines after his live performance at the World Cup final.
During an interview while he was out there, a mysterious white object fell out of his mouth, later revealed as a piece of gum. But it didn’t stop the incident from exploding on social media.
Reflecting on the saga, he said: ‘To have a Nicorette fall out of my mouth during a live interview… and then stick to my forehead… is the most me thing I’ve ever done.’
Later adding: ‘It wouldn’t feel right if I appeared on the world stage and absolutely nothing weird happened.’