Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 'unkind' comments about Robbie Williams that sparked feud

14 November 2023 , 08:46

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Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 'unkind' comments about Robbie Williams that sparked feud

Sophie Ellis-Bextor once again has apologised for her cutting comments to Robbie Williams.

In recent days, the singer-songwriter found herself at the centre of online hysteria when Robbie dropped his recent Netflix documentary, airing the good, the bad and the ugly about his life. Williams, 49, has been praised for opening up like never before as he discussed his exit from Take That, his troubles with drugs and alcohol as well as a row with McDonald's.

But in the series, Robbie shared a clip of Sophie, 44, that nobody could anticipate. Perhaps because the original clip was filmed when she was 19, over two decades ago.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor was just 19 when she made comments about Robbie Williams and calling him a 'prat' (Press Association)

Robbie hit back about Sophie's appearance (Tim Whitby/Getty Images for BAFTA)

In the video, Sophie was seen chatting to radio DJ Jo Whiley when she made some rather uncomplimentary comments about the hitmaker. Aged 19, she was asked to support Robbie on his solo tour following his departure from Take That in 1995. However, the Take Me Home songstress declined the opportunity.

But, rubbing salt into the wound, Sophie went on to describe Robbie as a "tart" and a "prat". She told Jo in 1998: "To me, he hasn't got any charm about him. Why people embrace him, I find it baffling and it makes me a bit sad really." This riled Robbie, who furiously hit back and said Sophie had a "face like a satellite dish and my nan's ankles."

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But in 2018, it appeared that Sophie had a change of heart and admitted she regretted her comments. At the time, she told the Daily Mail at the time: "I think I need to apologise to him. We had this slightly weird altercation when I hadn't really worked out that there are things you say that sound quite funny to your mates but in black and white it just doesn't look good."

Robbie included Sophie's comments in his recent Netflix documentary (NETFLIX)

She continued that Robbie was "right to be cross" and revealed she had already privately apologised to him, but would "do it again one day". Nowadays, the pair are on much better terms, with Sophie recently revealing that they had once worked together on a project.

After a clip was shown on Robbie's documentary, Sophie took to Instagram to share an apology once again. Speaking to the camera, the songstress said: "In 1998, aged 19, I was very rude about @robbiewilliams and the clip of me being horrid is included in his brilliant Netflix documentary," she said. "I didn't need to see it again to feel bad. I genuinely have felt crappy about how I spoke for the 25 years since I said it."

Giving her reasons for the Robbie insults, Sophie continued: "I thought it was clever to be gobby back then, but it wasn't cool then and it's even worse to see it now. Not proud. Not how I'm raising my kids. That being said, I wanted to reach out and apologise so a few years back I found an address for Robbie and wrote him a note to say how sorry I was. He was gracious and very forgiving.

"We ended up meeting last summer and I spent time with him, his amazing wife @aydafieldwilliams and his gorgeous kids. It was lovely to be able to become friends and we have now made some songs together." She ended the post by saying: "I suppose the moral of this story is, as ever, be kind. To own your mistakes. And if you're ever cruel, try to make sure it's not filmed as it's bloody brutal to see sharp-tongued teenage me after all these years! Yikes. P.S. - watch the documentary. It's great."

Daniel Bird