On Monday (12th January) an extended interview between Scott Mills and Robbie Williams will be broadcast BBC Radio 2’s The Scott Mills Breakfast Show (6.30-9.30am).
Robbie discusses how he taught himself to be a better communicator after having children, how he feels about his daughter Theodora’s dreams to be a singer and attending parent-teacher meetings with his son Charlie.
Robbie Williams: Can I ask you a question? You know, you’re amazing at your job. You’re incredible at your job. You’re a very good conversationalist. Do you find it easier being a human and a conversationalist on the radio than you do in real life?
Scott Mills: Yes.
Robbie: Why do you think that is?
Scott: Because radio presenters - and sometimes popstars - are actually intrinsically awkward and shy.
Robbie: Why can’t we, apply this skill to our real lives?
Scott: Why can’t we be this confident –
Robbie: And interesting –
Scott: And interested in real life? I don’t understand it.
Robbie: I used to be absolutely terrible at conversations. I didn’t know how to human at one point. I didn’t know how to talk to people not on a radio show or not in an interview and I had to practise at it.
Scott: Did you?
Robbie: Oh yeah, yeah.
Scott: What did you write, bullet points?
Robbie: No, no, what I did was, we’re going to pretend that everybody’s on a podcast, and it’s my podcast, and I’ve got to find out why this person’s interesting, and it worked for me and I sort of got together at least five minutes of being able to talk to people, and then it built, like going to the gym. At first, you know, you work out and then your muscles really hurt, but then your muscles get used to it. Now, I can do a whole dinner party without falling apart inside.
Scott: Yep. And I know we’ve talked about this, not on radio before but we have talked about this, how difficult you, and sometimes I, find that. Now when did you learn this new skill?
Robbie: When I was going to become a father I was like, I can’t go on just being an isolated person that’s really just only happy in bed, lying down, watching reality TV. I need to enter the world and figure out how to do it. So when the kids arrived, that was when I realised that I had to apply myself to become a fully formed human being.
Scott: Do you remember when I came to stay at your house? That was the era of – it was before kids – and actually, we had a lovely time, we literally just lounged around and watched reality TV and I think we left the house once. But that’s where you were at then.
Robbie: But you’re easy to get along with. I can be extrovert with the right people.
Scott: Me too.
Robbie: But there’s not many right people.
Scott: I was really lucky to spend some time with you at the end of the summer last year before your show in Munich. They flippin' love this guy in Germany, always have. And I loved getting involved in your pre-show huddle. Can you explain what it is and what happens?
Robbie: Pre-show basically, I’ll have my massage and then I’ll have my make-up done and then I will go into the band’s room and then, after the vocal warm up we have a disco.
Scott: Yes we do. I’d seen the huddle before, I’d never seen the disco bit, until Munich. Fantastic.
Robbie: We get together and we get into a huddle, and I'll ask a question each night. And it sort of breaks up the ‘oh, we're about to do a thing.’ It sort of makes you think of something else and puts you in a different space before we go on to attack what we need to attack and the questions can be like, ‘What do you love about yourself?’ And I go round, you know, there'll be like eight dancers, six band, guests, and then we will all pray to Elvis. ‘Elvis grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, uh huh’. Leg goes to the side.
Scott: I mean I'll be honest, I felt a little awkward doing the ‘uh huh’, but you soon get used to it.
Robbie: I also do this thing where if there's like guests, I will say - and I should have done it the night you were there - because I will go ‘ladies and gentlemen it's a massive gig tonight and, you know, to go into this show this evening, we need some really, really important, strong words of encouragement and advice, and I brought in the best person…’ And I should have done it that night. I didn't think, ‘ladies and gentlemen, Scott Mills.’
Scott: No, because you know I would absolutely not be up for that.
Robbie: Yeah, but everybody is not up for it. I did it once with José Mourinho.
Scott: Oh, José, yeah?
Robbie: Yeah, just name drop, pick that up, but um, ‘cause like I obviously thought that he'd know it was a joke. But then I actually didn't realise that he was a manager that does that for a living, every day. He does that for a living every match. And then he was just like, ‘…go out and you know, have… do good singing’. And it was like, oh, mm, he thinks that I really meant that, I didn't mean that.
Scott: Oh, bless him. I saw a clip of Teddy, Theodora, your daughter, joining the vocal warm-up before one of your shows. That must be kind of special, because I feel they're now at an age where they know who their dad is and to have that experience with your kids? Is it cool?
Robbie: Yeah, it is very, very cool. Ted in particular is so desperate for it. Now, when I was growing up in Stoke-on Trent, I was also incredibly desperate for it, whatever it was, you know, watching Top of the Pops on Thursday and thinking, how the hell do I get in that box in the corner of this room and be one of those people? But I've never seen it so acute as I do with Ted. She sent me a text the other day. And it goes, let me get this. It says - this was Thursday, six minutes past two in the morning, ‘Dad, what if I'm not a singer? It's my biggest fear not to be a singer.’ Biggest capital letters. ‘What if I'm nothing?’
Scott: Oh, Teddy.
Robbie: And I was like, ‘babe, you're a nepo. You'll be fine.’
[…]
Scott: That's so good. Does it worry you that she wants to be that whatever it is?
Robbie: The only thing that worries me about it is, she's incredibly sensitive. I am painfully, painfully sensitive. In some quarters it would be deemed as being oversensitive. She is worse than me. And I'm worried about what words will do to her. For me, it was either this or stacking shelves at ASDA – so this, every single day and for Ted, she’s got options. I’m just worried about words, and mean people and – I’m not worried - because like I can steer her professionally so that's okay, it's just everything else that comes with it and also you know, besides all of that, it's a wonderful, wonderful life and a wonderful, wonderful job and you get to be creative for a living and I'm very grateful and incredibly lucky.
Scott: Talking of parenting, can I just say what a beautiful photo it was of your dad visiting on the tour. Lovely. And of course it was a big deal that that Pete was there.
Robbie: Yeah, my dad's unfortunately got Parkinson's. He hasn't left his house for a couple of years, really, just for bits and pieces and then I think he hasn't left his bedroom for a bit and then his friends convinced him to get in a car and come to his son's show, which he did, he travelled from Stoke-on-Trent up to Newcastle in his wheelchair and he sat in front of the big screen, stage right, in his wheelchair just watching his son, and every now and again I would go back and just check to see what he was doing. And every time I’d look at his face he just had this big, proud, beaming smile. And I will take that with me for the rest of my life.
[…]
Scott: It’s a strange feeling when we become the grown up. Do you know what I mean, though? I'm finding it a bit with my mum at the moment. It's like, it's getting harder.
Robbie: Well, I'm realising exactly how 16 I am.
Scott: Oh really?
Robbie: Yeah. I mean, especially with parents, but also at parent-teacher meetings, too, with the kids.
Scott: I mean, I would love to see what happens there.
Robbie: Oh, mate, overwhelmed. So, we went in to talk with Charlie's teacher - my eldest - and they were like, yeah, he's rushing his work, and he's a really lovely boy, and when he applies himself, he's amazing, but the other day, we gave him a test on bisons - and in my head, I went, ‘bisons, they emigrate 1100 miles…how did they…?’ And I went off in my head for three minutes and as I came out, I realised that I'm 51, and if I can't concentrate, he's 11, what's he going to do?
[…]
Scott: It's true you are at your best, you are.
Robbie: I have ‘stepped into my power’, namaste. Well I've applied myself, like the teachers said, that if he applied himself he could do much better.
Scott: But sometimes you haven't applied yourself.
Robbie: No, I was determined to not apply myself, if I could get through life not applying myself, then I thought that I would have succeeded. I can now understand the gift that has been given to me with my career and my life and the opportunities that I have. So I think, and I make no apologies for the namaste-ness of it, you know, it's gratitude. It's all gratitude and how lucky I feel to still be here.
