Music star Robbie Williams has revealed that he secretly struggles with Tourette's syndrome. The 51-year-old singer says his tics are "intrusive" and mostly internal, but his thoughts are so intense that he can't shut them out even while performing in front of tens of thousands of fans, the Daily Mail reports.
Williams has previously been diagnosed with ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder, and has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. He recently tested negative for autism, but was told he had "autistic traits," including anxiety when leaving the safety of his bed.
In a candid chat on the podcast 'I am ADHD! No, you're not', the singer admitted that touring still scares him, despite decades of experience in selling out stadiums.
"Whatever is in me, it doesn't understand"
Speaking about his latest diagnosis, Williams said: "I just found out I have Tourette's syndrome, but it doesn't manifest outwardly. You would think a stadium full of people giving you love would act as a distraction, but it doesn't. Whatever it is inside me, it can't understand."
Like Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi, who took a break in 2023 due to Tourette syndrome, Williams' mental health also strongly affects his performances.
"I have a very complicated relationship with touring and performing live. People say, 'You're going on tour? You must be excited.' But not really, I'm terrified," he admitted.
The 18-time BRIT Award winner said he had been diagnosed with ADHD three times, each time "forgetting" about the diagnosis. The first time was around 2006. "I felt relieved to finally have an official diagnosis," he said.
"But then I felt even more relief when I was getting 200 pills and I thought they were going to fix me, because you're always looking for a cure. You're looking for a cure for the disease in your head. So very quickly I went from swallowing pills to crushing them and snorting them," Williams said.
Today, he says, he is more aware of his mental health and constantly searches for the roots of his discomfort.
"When I'm in bed, that's my comfort zone. Everything else outside of bed is my discomfort zone. In my twenties it was terrible, in my thirties it was bad, in my forties it started to get better, now I'm on the rise, but I still feel bad in my own skin," the singer concluded.
Tourette syndrome is an inherited, neurological disorder characterized by involuntary sounds and movements called tics. It usually begins in childhood, and symptoms may include frequent blinking, grimacing, shrugging, or head shaking. Conditions such as ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety are often associated with Tourette syndrome.
