Robbie Williams Declares 'You've Never Met Anybody Who Wants to Be Gay as Much As Me'

Robbie Williams sued a tabloid two decades ago for a story claiming that he had a secret gay life, but that doesn't mean he considers being thought of as queer to be defamatory.

In fact, he told UK newspaper the Guardian, "I've done everything but suck a cock."

"Honestly," the "She's the One" singer continued, "you've never met somebody that wants to be gay as much as me."

That said, the 50-year-old pop star added, "You want to be an ally while at the same time protecting your own authenticity and your own life."

Variety reported on the "Angel" singer's comments to the Guardian, relaying that as he looked back "on his early career performing at gay clubs with Take That, Williams recalled, 'When I went into the gay world there was none of that [violence]. There was total acceptance and humor and gay abandon. And safety.'"

Williams was discussing a new biopic about his life and career. "Better Man," directed by Michael Gracey ("The Greatest Showman") "chronicles Williams' journey from his early days in Take That to his struggles with substance abuse and mental health," Variety thumbnailed. In an extraordinary twist on the genre, however, Williams is depicted as a chimpanzee, a feat accomplished using motion capture and CGI technology. (Actor Jonno Davies plays the physical part of Williams as a chimp, as well as voicing Williams as a youth, while Williams does his own voice as an adult.)

Not everyone felt sure of the conceit, Williams said.

"Convincing financiers was really hard," the singer recounted. "People would go 'the director of The Greatest Showman plus Robbie Williams, we are in.' And then you go 'one thing, Rob's going to be played as a monkey'. That was the end of so many finance meetings."

Still, Williams purported to find the unusual approach necessary to the success of the project.

"Let's face it, a Robbie Williams biopic without the monkey is way less appealing, or intriguing," he told the Guardian.

"And he's right," the Guardian reckons; "it's rare to see a Hoover bag of cocaine consumed by a chimp in front of an approximation of the very human Gallagher brothers. Or, as in another scene, Robbie-the-monkey getting a handjob in a nightclub from a fan."

The film "also delves into his relationship with All Saints' Nicole Appleton," Variety relayed, "including a controversial sequence depicting their terminated pregnancy."

"Williams noted that the scene was included only after securing Appleton's approval, reflecting on the industry pressures of the time," the writeup added.

"That you were guided, nay made, to terminate a life because of being in a pop band," Williams, now married and a father of four, reflected, "it's only now that you go 'What the fuck? That's insane.'"

Have a look at a trailer for the movie below.