Robbie Williams' brutally honest confession about true feelings for Gary Barlow

06 November 2023 , 20:00

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Their feud was well documented (Image: Getty Images)

There was a time when Take That did rule the world as Britain's top boyband during the 1990s. The group from Manchester consisted of Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange who all shot to fame with their debut singles in 1991 "Do What U Like," and "Promises."

But like all groups, Take That wasn't immune to conflict within the band, and most notably, a brewing rivalry between Gary and Robbie that ultimately saw Robbie quit the group in 1995. The star was originally the backup singer whilst Gary was known for writing the songs, but their bust-up could be known as one of the most notorious during the '90s.

Robbie was the youngest of the bunch, just 15 when he joined, but felt disappointed with the style, song choices and direction the band was heading in and after his Glastonbury bender with the Gallagher brothers, his fellow bandmates forced him to leave the group.

Take that were one of the UK's biggest boybands during the 90s (Mirrorpix)

Robbie admitted his behaviour and alcoholism spiralled out of control. "I was a pathetic, pitiful creature. The first thing I would do in the morning would be to empty the bottle of wine that I had fallen asleep over two hours earlier. I'd have taken a line of coke because I couldn't get up without it," he admitted.

Then out of the job, he started partying more and more, gaining weight and slowly going into self-destruct mode. At 21, he called Gary a 'clueless w**ker' and said the group, "had all the creativity of mentally unstable morons." "I hated our music and in the end I also hated myself," he raged.

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In the upcoming Netflix documentary: Robbie Williams, which comes out November 8, viewers will see Robbie at his most vulnerable and it'll likely touch on his former feud. In a 2010 documentary, Take That: Look Back, Don't Stare, Robbie previously said of his former hatred: "My problem has always been with Gary. It was always with Gary. wanted to crush him. I wanted to crush the memory of the band - and I didn't let go. You know, even when he was down, I didn't let go. And for that I sincerely apologise."

Robbie, despite struggling became a solo singer (PA)

Meanwhile, Gary had said: "It was hard watching Rob get further and further into the distance and I just seemed like I'd gone 10 steps back. It was a constantly daily mock. It followed me everywhere. You just seem like a total loser. In fact, I remember asking the bank whether I could change my name on my card. I couldn't face my own name because even over the phone people would make some wisecrack."

After the group disbanded, Gary went solo and accused Robbie of being jealous of his £6.5million fortune earned from his songwriting royalties. "I do wonder if that’s the source of his feelings because I probably made six times more than they did," he sniped before his debut single Forever Love rode in at number one.

But then things started to change with Robbie's breakthrough song Angels. The 1997 hit was a runaway success and catapulted Robbie to a whole new league of success. He won three BRIT Awards and sold six million records while Gary was forced to cancel a show at Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre because of ticketing issues.

The band when they started out in 1993 (Getty Images)

Robbie and Ayda Field together for the "Robbie Williams" Netflix documentary (Dave Benett/WireImage)

Finally, after 15 years of going solo and bickering with his former bandmate, Robbie in 2010 joined the band to complete Take That. Robbie had said of the reunion: "I get embarrassingly excited when the five of us are in a room. It feels like coming home."

Gary had revealed that it was when Robbie moved to Los Angeles in 2004 the pair met up and started to reconcile. "We had a great chat. He's really well and we're good buds again. It was the best meet-up we've had since 1996."

Mark commented on the happy occasion saying, "getting the five of us to be in a room together, although always a dream, never actually seemed like becoming a reality. Now the reality of the five of us making a record together feels like a dream. It's been an absolute delight spending time with Rob again. But I'm still a better footballer."

Robbie Williams will air on Netflix from November 8

Serena Richards