Take That stars regret not helping Robbie with his mental health before he quit the band
Howard Donald wishes he could have helped Robbie Williams when they were in Take That before the 'Angels' singer quit the band for good.
Howard Donald wishes he could have helped Robbie Williams when they were in Take That.
The 55-year-old pop star shot to fame in the 1990s boyband alongside Robbie - who has recently opened up about his struggles in a tell-all Netflix documentary - and regrets not talking to his bandmate before he ultimately made the decision to quit and pursue a solo career.
Speaking in an upcoming clip from Dermot O'Leary's 'Reel Stories', he said: "When you look back, Robbie obviously had enough. We never got in a room and talked about health or home life. In hindsight, you do wish you could have spoken to him and said, ‘Listen mate, we are about to go on tour. Is everything OK?’ But it was not like that."
Bandmate Mark Owen also discussed Robbie's sudden departure, noting that when the 'Rock DJ' hitmaker walked out on them, it brought about "a lot of uncertainty" that he struggled to process at the time.
He said: "Rob leaving was a big time for me. It was a time for me with a lot of uncertainty. The feelings I had, I was not able to put them into words. I just had a white shirt and white trousers on and we had to carry on and sing 'Never Forget'.
"There was a shame thing going on for me with Robbie out there as king of the world at this time. It drove me crazy. Every time that happened, it took me about six months to get over another version of him saying something.
“In the modern day, a therapist would have undone it in about 12 months. But it took me five years to get out of it.
“It was a dim light but I think I would move forward in that way.
Robbie previously explained that when he was with the 'Could It Be Magic?' hitmakers at the height of his fame, he felt as if he was in a "burning building" and had wanted to complete their upcoming tour before quitting for good.
He told The BBC: "It felt like I was in some sort of burning building and I needed to get out. That's how it felt at the time. And then I was like, 'okay, I'll do this tour and then I'll leave.' And they actually went, 'Actually, if you're going to leave, can you go now?'"
