ROBBIE Williams says he is going through the “manopause” — battling thinning hair, reduced sex drive, insomnia and lethargy.
Ahead of his 50th birthday in February, the superstar singer believes years of partying have left him “knackered” — and, crucially, deprived of essential hormones.
The dad of four tells The Sun in an exclusive interview: “The hair is thinning, the testosterone has left the building, the serotonin is not really here and the dopamine said goodbye a long time ago.
“I’ve used up all of the natural good stuff. I’ve got the manopause.
“My daughter says to me, ‘Daddy’s lazy’. I don’t like the term ‘lazy’ as that’s how I was described when I was younger.
“The reality is that I’m just f***ing knackered from what I did to myself in the Nineties and bits of the 2000s.”
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Robbie, married to actress Ayda Field, has previously spoken about his plummeting sex drive.
And he has opened up again in typically honest form ahead of a new four-part Netflix documentary.
He has beaten an addiction to sleeping pill Zopiclone, but reveals: “I have a different sleep pattern to other people.
“I’m magnetically drawn to 4am and falling asleep at six and there’s nothing I can do about it.
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“I go to bed at 11pm and I’m just lying there completely awake and completely alert until 5am.
“It’s one of the banes of Ayda’s existence that she doesn’t get me until 1pm.”
The male menopause — or andropause — can develop in men in their late 40s and early 50s, according to the NHS.
Typical symptoms include mood swings, loss of sex drive and muscle mass, difficulty sleeping and poor short-term memory.
A slow decline in testosterone levels can be one contributing factor, while another can be hypogonadism, where the testes produce few or no hormones.
He says watching his new documentary — entitled Robbie Williams — was like witnessing “a traumatic car crash in slow-mo . . . surreal”.
It is, indeed, gripping viewing — and at times hard to watch.
Hours of never-before-seen footage includes clips of him drinking and on drugs during his Take That days, which are recounted in candid fashion.
Despite his global fame, multi-millions in the bank, a beautiful family, international homes and celebrity pals, his demons remain clear to see.
When I tell him he’s the “most insecure famous person, who still thinks he’s a little bit s”, he pauses before replying: “Yeah, I feel comfortable with that summary.”
But he’s also, unquestionably, the most fun famous person to interview — and endearingly transparent.
You can ask Robbie absolutely anything and he doesn’t bat an eyelid. “Have you ever snogged one of Take That?” (“No”).
“Who’s the most famous woman you’ve slept with?” (“I’ll tell you after”). “Have you ever had an eating disorder?” (”I’ve had all the ’rexias, yes”).
And so on.
While filming the Netflix series, he was banned by producers from getting Botox, in case it messed with the continuity.
Suffice to say, he has a faceful of the stuff now.
Next stop? A £20,000 neck lift, and some “Turkey teeth”. “I’ve had Botox,” he says, not moving a muscle.
“I can’t get angry now. And Ayda tells me I could do a bit more. And I will.
“I think people’s image of plastic surgery or getting work done is based on bad examples.
“They’re not realising that most people in the entertainment industry have had it done but you wouldn’t know — 90 per cent is pretty decent.
“I’m also getting my Turkey teeth done — I am looking about for the people that do the best teeth. I want to see examples where you go, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you’d had it done . . .’ I don’t want TV teeth.
“I will do it and I will get a neck lift too. I’m gifting that to myself next year.
“There just needs a bit of help, that’s all,” he says while hoisting up his jowls and pinching a teeny-tiny bit of loose skin.
“I’m going for a consultation around Christmas — my 50th birthday present to myself.”
Today, despite years of therapy and self-help groups, Robbie’s self-esteem remains bafflingly low.
He recently started a hilarious parody “crap content” influencer account on Instagram, but will not read social media comments or Google himself.
Sitting on his giant bed (I’m over Zoom, not beside him), he recalls: “There was a time when I was taking in all forms of information about myself.
“If I was a therapist, I’d say I was looking for evidence to prove I was a s* person. I was looking for the bad stuff. And I found it.
“But one day I was reading about how I’m the worst person to have ever existed in the whole world, and thought, ‘I’ve got to rectify this somehow’.
“So I decided to go and read the comments’ section of some people who I know to be the salt-of-the-earth people in the entertainment industry.
“I knew Ant and Dec were quality people, so as I started scrolling down I got to the second or third comment and read, ‘I hate these two almost as much as I hate that fat b**** Robbie Williams’. So that was nice.”
In the documentary, Robbie admits he lived a rock star life — drinking a bottle of vodka a day, taking “whatever drugs I could get my hands on” and sleeping with groupies.
So, how many women has he had sex with, I ask, unable to make eye contact, and wishing I worked for, say, the political section of this newspaper.
He replies: “It’s probably higher than the average guy but lower than you would expect.”
He then makes me guess.
“Er, 65?”
“Oh! Well it’s more than that!”
“110?”
“Yeah, let’s go with that.”
Today he is nauseatingly happy with Ayda, with whom he was set up by a mutual pal during one of Robbie’s drug relapses.
At one stage during their first date, Ayda recalls her future husband clucking like a chicken before being violently sick.
They briefly split while Robbie got himself sober again, but went on to marry in 2010.
Their eight dogs acted as bridesmaids, which is precisely the sort of pageantry I can get on board with.
Regardless of his reduced testosterone levels, Robbie is clearly devoted to the mother of his children, Teddy, Charlie, Coco and Beau.
And the only action he gets outside the family home is “women playing with their bits” over Instagram direct message. Which is lovely.
He laughs: “The first thing I do is show Ayda and say, ‘Fing look at this!!’
“We are sickeningly cheesy with each other. I’m happy, Ayda is amazing.
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“I know I have a big life, and I do feel lucky to have my family. Right now I’d describe myself as a very happy hermit… I’m a Coca- Cola-lite agoraphobic. And that works for me.”
- ROBBIE Williams is available to stream on Netflix from November 8. Day two of our Robbie interview is out tomorrow.
