Robbie Williams has described his recent autism diagnosis as a "get out of jail free card" that allows him to say whatever he likes. The 52-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with ADHD two decades ago, has now learned he also has autism, which he says is a relief because "it explains so much".
'It explains so much'
Speaking about his neurological differences, Williams shared: "I have ADHD and I just found out I have a bit of autism as well, which I actually f****** love because it explains so much."
He added: "It is my get-out-of-jail-free card now, and all the weird s*** that I do I just say, 'Sorry, I'm autistic.' With the ADHD you can completely and utterly concentrate on something 1000 per cent, but with absolutely everything else, you just cannot do it. Ask my kids."
Telekinesis belief
The Angels hitmaker offered an insight into how his mind works, revealing he recently convinced himself he had telekinesis and the ability to crash a plane with his thoughts. During a Q&A at the Autumn/Winter launch for his clothing brand Hopium in London, he said: "What I'm completely and utterly obsessed with is creating images and making funny things, if I'm creating images and funny things, I'm not thinking about me, because my brain is incredibly creative, and it can be creative about everything in the world that you panic or scared about."
He continued: "For example, this is how crazy I am, recently, I was sitting on a plane, and I thought ''what if I can have telekinesis and my intrusive thoughts tell the plane to crash itself."
Previous Tourette's belief
Last year, Williams told fans he believed he also had Tourette's syndrome, which involves involuntary tics and sometimes rude words: "I've just realised that I have Tourette's, but they don't come out. I was just walking down the road the other day and I realised that these intrusive thoughts are 'inside Tourette's'."
He previously opened up about the difficulty he has living with ADHD, especially in the public eye. Speaking on the I'm ADHD! No You're Not podcast, he said: "You would think that a stadium full of people professing their love to you would work, but whatever it is, inside me, cannot hear it. I have a very complicated relationship with touring and performing live. People say: 'Oh, you going on tour? You must be really, really excited.' Not really. I'm terrified. I mask, like I'm an Olympian at masking."
He added: "I will look full of bravado and look pompous and look smug and do these grand gestures, which have worked for me because they put my face on the poster and people still buy tickets but actually what's happening is I feel like the opposite of that all the time, most of the time."
