Robbie Williams says 2006 show at Roundhay Park in Leeds was ‘an absolute disaster’ in new Netflix documentary

The ‘Rock DJ’ singer performed two outdoor shows at the park in September 2006 to over 150,000 people and millions watching on TV but has said the first concert was “probably the most traumatic moment of my life”.

Speaking during the four-part documentary series about the singer that has been broadcast on Netflix, Williams says that he was feeling the strain of the tour that he had embarked on ahead of the concerts.

Williams had faced criticism and ridicule at the time following the release of the track ‘Rudebox’ and was feeling increasingly targeted by the British press.

As the footage was about to be shown to Robbie in real time, he said that he was about to watch “probably the most traumatic moment of my life”.

Backstage footage was shown of Robbie speaking before the show, saying that he felt “queasy” about playing in front of 90,000 people.

Footage of Robbie after the shows saw him saying it was “an absolute disaster for me”, adding: “I developed a panic attack before I went on that didn’t finish all the way through the performance.

"I could swear that people could read my mind and there were 90,000 people there.

"I came off at the encore and never wanted to go back on stage again. I couldn’t speak and kept shaking and I was going through trauma.”

Robbie said that he felt “guilty” after the show and had to take tablets to go to sleep. He goes on to say that he wanted to cancel the second night in Leeds but was told by his manager that if he didn’t perform “it would cost me more money than I’ve got” and would “be the end of my career”.

He said that he went into a “pit of self-annihilation” when arriving at the park and was “absolutely petrified”. He finishes by saying: “Tonight in Leeds we pulled it off but we’re not out of the woods. I’m relaxed now but I’m pretty much crippled inside.”