Robbie Williams shares footage of the moment he proposed to ex Nicole Appleton

08 November 2023 , 14:03

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Robbie Williams shares footage of the moment he proposed to ex Nicole Appleton

Robbie Williams has shared footage of the moment he proposed to his ex Nicole Appleton over the phone.

He has reflected on his turbulent relationship with the All Saints star and has since admitted that at the time he was not ready for commitment. His new Netflix documentary explores the ins and outs of his rise to fame as well as his romances.

In the first episode of the show Robbie looked back on his nineties romance with Nicole, 48 with home video footage showing the couple in the early days of their romance after they met on Top Of The Pops in 1997. Footage reveals Robbie proposing to his then girlfriend over a brief phone call.

Robbie proposed to Nicole

However, their nine-month relationship saw the couple splitting multiple times before Robbie explained how he was in "no fit state" to commit at the time. Speaking in the documentary, Robbie says: "She was kind and fun and sweet, you know she's just a good soul. With my relationship with Nic, it was very important to me to learn to become the man I was supposed to be."

But now he realises he was ready for a serious relationship due to rising to fame at such a young age – joining Take That at just 16. He added: "The years of finding yourself, maturing and growing up that everybody has it taken away from you."

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A clip is saw Robbie proposing to Nicole over the phone while he was on the road, but the relationship didn't last much longer after that. In a voice over, Robbie says: "I guess that I'm trying to convince myself that I'm the kind of person that is ready for that kind of commitment, I know I'm not. I couldn't look after myself I was in no fit state to offer myself as a partner and the relationship with Nic ended a few months after this."

Giving her side of the story back in 2002, Nicole spoke in her autobiography Together when she said that she fell pregnant with Robbie's baby but, after pressure from All Saints' record company, she had an abortion. Recalling Robbie's reaction to the pregnancy at the time, she said: "Robbie Williams put his hand on my belly and told me, 'This baby is saving my life.'"

Robbie supported Nicole's decision to write about the pregnancy in her autobiography, but found it hard to re-live what happened. He previously told the Daily Mail: "I was completely behind her... If there's something that's so deep-rooted within yourself that you feel it would feel better to you that you exorcised it and got it off your chest, because secrets can make you sick and secrets can make you feel terrible... then I'm completely behind her."

Robbie is now married to Ayda Field and the pair have four children together. His life with her is also featured in the tell-all documentary.

Charlotte Everett