Guy Chambers says Robbie Williams has “a self-destructive side”

Robbie Williams’ former songwriting partner Guy Chambers has opened up about his relationship with Williams in a new interview, where he described the pop star as having “a self-destructive side”.

In a new interview with The Times, Chambers spoke about struggling with Williams’ addictions in the ’90s saying “he was the first person I worked with long-term who was in full-blown addiction, and I wasn’t prepared for that. It was very difficult.”

He claimed: “We’d wait three days for him to turn up at a studio. People would go around pubs trying to find him. He would turn up drunk. We’d go out and he would disappear on some mission. That happened in Robbie world.”

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Chambers reflected on the biggest hits they wrote together including ‘Angels’ and ‘Let Me Entertain You’, but how they split as a song-writing duo in 2002 when Williams’ addiction issues reportedly continued and “trust issues” led to a breakdown of their relationship.

Chambers went on to reflect on how they reunited a decade later but problems re-emerged when he claims Williams became addicted to pills. “I’d be behind him thinking he could keel over. He could die on stage,” Chambers told The Times.

He added: “There were teams trying to help him, and still [are], but if he’s got it in his head to do something, he won’t listen. He has a self-destructive side.”

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Williams, whose solo career began after being a member of boy-band Take That, recently brought out a new documentary on Netflix, offering an insight into his career, relationships, and struggles with mental health.

The four-part documentary, titled Robbie Williams, has been described by NME as “a persuasive account of the gulf that can occur between wealth and happiness, a simple sentiment that can be difficult to really feel.”

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In the documentary, Williams opened up about leaving Take That in 1995 when “in the middle of a nervous breakdown” – something he had previously spoken about to the BBC last year.

Elsewhere in the documentary, Williams revealed that releasing ‘Rudebox’ was the “biggest regret” of his career.