Robbie Williams has revealed that his eldest child, Teddy, shares his diagnosis of dyslexia in a candid new interview about parenting.
The British singer opened up about his experience with the language-based learning disability, which also affects his ten-year-old daughter.
Speaking to Galore, Williams said, "When I was growing up in Stoke-on-Trent in the Eighties...dyslexia was still a completely unknown diagnosis."
He added that he has helped Teddy to "deal" with the condition, before emphasizing, "If you suffer from it, you're not automatically stupid." The important message comes two years after Holly Willoughby opened up about her own battle with dyslexia, which left her "terrified" to read aloud in school.
Williams, who has four children with his wife Ayda Field, also reflected on supporting his eldest daughter after "one of her friends decided overnight that she didn't want anything to do with her anymore."
"Teddy was devastated, completely desperate," the 48-year-old recalled. He then explained to the German magazine that he offered her some words of advice, in the hope that she wouldn't take the rejection too personally.
Teddy Williams at Princess Eugenie's wedding
"I tried to make it clear to her that sometimes you just have to let other people go, that you should let them go - but without sacrificing your own self-esteem in the process. This girl did not deserve her love and friendship," he added.
In September 2020, Williams revealed that he is "numerically dyslexic" and "can't add or subtract." The former Take That member also confessed that he "always gets in trouble" because he "doesn't know" his wedding anniversary or the birthdays of his wife and kids.
"I can't even remember our house in Los Angeles," he said. "It has four digits for the start of the address and I can’t ever remember what those digits are."
Williams' difficulties with learning also hindered him academically when he was a child. He left his Stoke-on-Trent school without any GCSEs, having reportedly failed all of the exams.
In an interview included in the biography, Take That and Robbie Williams, by Emily Herbert, the Rock DJ singer reveals he "didn't know" how to tell his parents about his poor grades, so instead got "pissed" with his friend Lee on the local bowling green. When he finally returned home to break the bad news to his mother, Janet, she informed him that he had received an offer to join the now mega-famous boyband, Take That. He recalls how he "ran upstairs" and shouted, "I'm going to be famous!", before deciding against telling her about his exam results.
