Robbie Williams diagnosed with autism; singer calls it 'get-out-of-jail-free card'

Robbie Williams, English singer-songwriter, has recently opened up about his autism diagnosis and called the discovery something that has helped him learn several aspects of his personality and behaviour.

During a Q&A held alongside the Autumn/Winter launch of his clothing brand Hopeium at Flannels, the 52-year-old singer spoke about the diagnosis and also shared his experience with ADHD.

Robbie Williams on his autism diagnosis

"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 said.

The former Take That member also went on to joke. "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’."

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ADHD and creativity

Williams has previously been open about being diagnosed with ADHD and has spoken about how it affects his ability to concentrate. "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."

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He further explained, "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."

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Williams speaks about intrusive thoughts

Williams also spoke about the nature of some of his intrusive thoughts. "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'", he recalled.

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He said that learning to channel his mind into creative pursuits helps him deal with such thoughts. "So that’s the kind of level of insanity that I’m dealing with. It’s best to train my brain to do something better than worrying about having supernatural powers and crashing a plane."

Williams has been open about his mental health and neurodivergence publicly.