11 November 2023 , 14:04
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Playing footy in the park and spending Christmases at one another's houses, Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes became the closest of friends growing up despite their four-year age gap. When they later left Stoke for the bright lights of London, they even shared a flat together in Notting Hill which they nicknamed 'Popstar Towers'. And when Robbie (49) released his album, Swing When You're Winning, a homage to the rat pack era Jonathan (now 45) joined Robbie on stage at the Royal Albert Hall to sing Me and My Shadow - a song celebrating friendships just like theirs.
Before Robbie moved to LA and married Ayda Field and Jonathan settled down with his wife Nikki Wheeler, whom he met at the BBC, the pair were often pictured together at showbiz parties. "Everywhere Rob goes, if I'm off, I'll go with him or everywhere I go, if Rob's off, he'll come with me,” Jonathan once said. “We do shadow each other like all other best mates. Me and My Shadow is the perfect best-mate song."
Jonathan Wilkes and Robbie Williams have been friends through thick and thin (Daily Record)It’s a close friendship that has lasted the test of time and Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes still have a close bond to this day. "I love him and he loves me and we trust each other more than anything in the world," Jonathan added. "It does not matter if we have not spoken for months and months, we just go back to the old routine."
When they lived together in London in 2000, they used to laugh about their shared ambitions of being pop stars. "We come home and go: `Hi, pop star!'... `Hi, pop star!' It's Pop Star Towers,” Jonathan laughed. And although Jonathan is often referred to as Robbie’s best mate, he has had his fair share of achievements starring in The Rocky Horror Show, Grease, Chicago, and Guys and Dolls.
In their twenties, the pair enjoyed a relatively normal life away from the cameras, playing computer games and watching TV. "We just have a laugh, do what any 22-year-old and a 27-year-old would do,” Jonathan told The Mirror. “We drink tea, play computers, watch telly, play pool and play football. There aren't any house rules and there's usually music playing all the time. There tends to be trainers and clothes left around all the time - it's a busy place, with lots of people coming and going."
EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness
Jonathan Wilkes is playing Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk (Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)Jonathan Wilkes then and now
Jonathan is a TV presenter, actor and composer who presented Stars in Their Eyes and co-founded Soccer Aid 2006 with Robbie. Before he was famous he signed for Port Vale FC, aged seven, and played for Everton FC as a teenager but was dropped from the team due to his unwillingness to 'eat, sleep and breathe football'. He enjoyed a brief spell as a pop-music singer like his friend Robbie Williams when his single "Just Another Day" reached number 24 in the UK singles charts.
Robbie Williams founded Soccer Aid with his solo singer friend Jonathan Wilkes in 2006. They wanted to raise money for Unicef, specifically to help children in danger around the world. Robbie captained the England team from the start, but hung up his boots in 2018. So far £20million has been raised since Soccer Aid began.
Although his duets with Robbie Williams received positive reviews, he decided to stop making music in order to move back into TV and theatre and in September 2013, he opened his own full-time performing arts college called Wilkes Academy in Swindon. The friends have remained close despite settling down with their respective partners. At Jonathan’s wedding to Nikki, the vicar even said, “Nikki, do you take Johnny and Robbie to be your lawful wedded husbands?”’
Robbie may have been a third wheel in their relationship but it wasn't something that bothered Jonathan. ‘I’m very lucky, there aren’t many people that I have special relationships with like that and we’ve been through thick and thin together,” he told The Metro. “It’s rare to have that but I take it for granted at times and Rob would say the same because people don’t have friends from the age four or five but we’re still strong and so close – he’s my best mate.”