Addiction can destroy my family.

Robbie Williams presents a new album. In order to increase his sales, he talks about his addiction and the effects of his mental problems on the talk show “Gredig direkt” – and declares his love for Switzerland.

Robbie Williams fans can rejoice.

The singer hopes to be “Mick Jagger in 2050” and still be on stage at the age of 75. However, the 47-year-old knows that this will take some effort.

Above all, he must take care of his health much more than he did in the first 47 years of his life. “Otherwise it could be very difficult because my body wouldn’t be able to stand on stage anymore.”

This is what fame does to you.

Robbie Williams is currently on an interview tour, thus stopping by Urs Gredig and his friend Talk show “Gredig Direct”. The English pop star is carrying his new album ‘XXV’ with him.

The new one is only partially true – the disc features mainly orchestral versions of his greatest songs.

After 7 minutes 58 seconds “Gredig Direct” the moderator asks the singer if success is synonymous with luck?

Robbie Williams briefly wipes his throat, then says, “For me, success is happiness, fame is not.” Anyone with too much fame will eventually experience some kind of mental illness quite automatically.

Gridge: “Don’t you really know which famous person would be happy?”

Williams: «No… well, Bruce Springsteen seems to get it pretty well. And Tom Hanks has retained a sense of dignity, too. But maybe he’s just a good actor.”

Otherwise, the pop star just wants to know which famous people have or have serious problems – and above all his former bandmates from Take That: “Gary Barlow suffered from bulimia and depression. Mark Owen was in rehab. He was Howard Donald has suicidal thoughts. Jason Orange hated everything. And I’ve done rehab a few times.”

Williams’ conclusion: “That’s what fame does to you. No one gets away with it Maybe except for football playersBecause they’re more fit than most people.”

“This is the scariest part of everything”

Robbie Williams openly admitted early in his career that he was an addict and suffered from depression. “I was an early influencer of mental health problems.”

His openness earned the singer a frequent accusation of being a whiner. Because in the past many people believed that anyone who was successful and world famous could never be, no, unhappy.

Fortunately, that is no longer the case today, says Williams. This also has to do with the fact that he is no longer the only famous person to talk about his problems.

Problems that are mostly a thing of the past since he started with his problems Mrs. Aida Together and father of four. “Family gives me meaning and responsibility and it has awakened in me the desire to be the best version of myself.”

At the same time, Williams is well aware that he has not yet recovered from his addiction and ailments. “I am always on edge, even though I know I have a family. That is the scariest thing of all.”

“Interlaken is the most beautiful place in the world”

Near the end of the show, Urs Gredig wants to know from Robbie Williams if he’s regretted anything in his life so far?

“Nothing keeps me up at night,” the singer says. But of course there are things he regrets, but he finds boring to talk about.

Williams, on the other hand, does not find Switzerland boring at all. It is he who says that he “does not live anywhere and everywhere” with his family, alternately in St Tropez, Ibiza, London, California and Geneva.

However, he was particularly affected by the Swiss mountains and the city of Interlaken. “I was there on August 1st and I thought, ‘This is probably the most beautiful place in the world.'”

Before that, he had never realized how beautiful the mountains could be in the summer. “I always thought you only go skiing there in the winter.”

In Switzerland, Williams also values ​​peace, quiet, and “a security that I don’t feel anywhere else.”

Gredig directly

Thursday 15.09.2019 10:25 pm – 11:05 pm ∙ SRF 1 ∙ CH 2022 ∙ 40 minutes