Robbie Williams has revealed that he was diagnosed with scurvy after he stopped eating while taking an appeтιтe-suppressant drug.
The Rock DJ singer, 51, has spoken out about his various health battles over the past year, revealing the physical affects of a weight loss drug.
Explaining that he lost two stone whilst on the medication, Robbie admitted it also led to an unusual diagnosis.
‘I’d stopped eating and I wasn’t getting nutrients,’ he said, explaining he was undernourished and lacking in vitamin C, leading to scurvy which he dubbed: ‘A 17th-century pirate disease.’
He added that his decades-long battle with body dysmorphia meant he misconstrued concerned comments from loved ones.
‘With body dysmorphia, when people say they’re worried about how you’re looking, you’re like: “I’ve achieved it.” When people say, “We’re worried you’re too thin,” that goes into my head as “Jackpot. I’ve reached the promised land”,’ Robbie told The Mirror.
Robbie Williams has revealed that he was diagnosed with scurvy after he stopped eating while taking an appeтιтe-suppressant drug (pictured in November 2024)
Robbie previously credited his two stone weight loss to ‘something like Ozempic,’ sharing in a 2023 interview that he’d gone from weighing 13st 13lb to 12st 1lb while using an appeтιтe suppressant.
Robbie explained that being overweight is ‘shockingly catastrophic’ for his mental health.
The popstar, who was once dubbed ‘Blobby Williams,’ described how mean his inner voice can be when he isn’t slim, telling The Times: ‘Babe, I’m on Ozempic…Well, something like Ozempic. It’s like a Christmas miracle. I’ve gone from 13st 13lb to 12st 1lb.
‘And I need it, medically. I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 self-loathing.
‘It’s shockingly catastrophic to my mental health to be bigger. My inner voice talks to me like Katie Hopkins talks about fat people. It’s maddening.’
The star, who shares four children with his wife Ayda Field, has also revealed that he suffered a debilitating bout of depression at the start of this year – a decade after his last bad mental health episode.
The singer was first diagnosed with depression in his twenties and has battled addiction struggles amid life in the spotlight.
And as 2025 began he was left feeling ‘confused’ that his mental health issues returned as he ‘thought he was at the other end of the arc.’
The hitmker (pictured in 2013) previously said he credits his recent two stone weight loss to an appeтιтle suppressant but has revealed the drug led to him becoming malnourished
He added that his decades-long battle with body dysmorphia meant he misconstrued concerned comments from loved ones – pictured with his wife Ayda Field
WHAT IS SCURVY?
Scurvy is a rare condition that can develop if you don’t have enough vitamin C in your diet.
Vitamin C s vital for the body, because it’s needed to make collagen.
Collagen is a type of protein found in many different types of tissue, such as skin, blood vessels, bones and cartilage.
Without vitamin C, collagen can’t be replaced and the different types of tissue break down, leading to the symptoms of scurvy. These include:
Muscle and joint painTirednessRed dots on the skinBleeding gums
Treatment for scurvy is relatively straightforward. It involves taking vitamin C supplements and eating food that’s high in vitamin C.
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He told The Mirror: ‘The year started with some ill mental health, which I haven’t had for a very, very long time. I was sad, I was anxious, I was depressed.
‘It’s been about ten years…I thought I was at the other end of the arc.
‘I thought this was the end of my story, and that I would just go walking into this marvellous wonderland. So for it to return was just confusing.’
It comes after at the end of last year Robbie candidly confessed that he was not dealing with his parents’ devastating ill health ‘as he should’.
He revealed earlier in 2024 that his mother Janet had been diagnosed with dementia, four-years after father Pete was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
In rare comment about his parents Robbie said he ‘didn’t know’ how to cope with the ‘incredibly complicated’ situation.
‘The truth is that I’m very busy and I’m not dealing with the situation as I should. I don’t really know how to do it, it’s an incredibly complicated thing’.
He continued: ‘But I prefer not to go into details, You know, if I say something, they might read it, and then I would have to answer a lot of questions’.
‘Let’s put it this way: we are all human beings, with our difficulties, and I am trying to deal with mine’.
Robbie first spoke about his mother’s diagnosis after revealing how his biopic Better Man depicts his loving relationship with his late grandmother who has dementia in the film.