Robbie Williams took to Instagram for a special Bank Holiday Monday post, in which he confessed he was reeling with embarrassment over his awkward encounter. The pair met at the same airport terminal and were introduced by a mutual friend – but the Let Me Entertain You star seemingly couldn’t wait to get away.
In his haste to give her some space, he exited while she was still talking – and he admitted to his three million followers that he still expected to be “beating himself up” over the error for years to come. Talking about Sunday’s encounter, he recalled: “My social awkwardness kicked in of course. I wanted to make the interaction as painless as possible for her.
“Looking for a natural break or ending in the conversation I made my excuses to go sit down. This was not for me but for her.” However, he was horrified when he realised his mistake.
“Alas, I don’t think Cher had finished talking which made my exiting our brief interaction seem rude,” he cringed. “Of course, I will think of this moment periodically for the next 25 years. *in head when im beating myself up at 4am in the morning * “And remember that time you were rude to Cher?’’
The former Take That star turned solo singer made another blunder when he assumed he knew why Cher was heading to St Tropez – and was greeted with a puzzled look by his fellow star. “I guess [she was going] to shop? As I was leaving, I blew a big kiss and said ‘’Buy well and Barter, make sure you barter!’
“Cher looked confused and I went to the toilet mainly to headbutt the wall, lamenting my stupidity,” he exclaimed.
In fact, this isn’t the first time Robbie and Cher have met – and they were even pictured together onstage at events like the 1999 BRIT Awards – but it seems the more quiet, intimate setting was making him feel awkward.
“So yeah, I told you I would be grumpy yesterday morning and I was,” he groaned, adding: “The small boat taking us to the harbour bashed on the waves, making my back spasm.
“[My wife] Ayda nervously laughed, not at me but at the situation. I let her know in true Grump fashion that it was not OK to laugh at me and my back.”
He added of Ayda, with whom he tied the knot with in 2010: “She wasn’t but Mr Grumpy couldn’t [discern] that.”
Robbie signed off by sharing some unusual art, before describing himself as a “President/Chairman/Benevolent Dictator, Delusional Manifesting Champ”.
He also recommended an Instagram account detailing the stories of a man with autism as part of his regular “Cuddle Club”, urging fans: “Let’s go give him a cuddle. Let him know he’s been seen and heard!”
It isn’t the first time Robbie has shared his experiences with “social awkwardness” as he’s been open about his mental health journey over the years.
For a three year period between 2006 and 2009, he recalled being left virtually housebound at times after suffering severe agoraphobia.
During this era, he also spent time in rehab when his addiction to alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine and painkillers left his life “spiralling out of control”.
However, this was also a time when his romance with Ayda began to blossom, after they met through a UFO documentary he was working on – and life became more stable for Robbie after the pair got married.