Sophie Ellis-Bextor has apologised to Robbie Williams after comments she made as a 19-year-old (Picture: REX)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor has issued a heartfelt apology to Robbie Williams after she was once ‘very rude’ to him.
The Murder on the Dancefloor hitmaker, now 44, had a long-running feud with the Take That star, 49, which started when she turned down a slot to support him on his first solo tour.
Aged 19, Sophie branded him a ‘tart’ and a ‘prat’, with Robbie later hitting back by saying she had ‘a face like a satellite dish and my nan’s ankles’.
Sophie’s comments – which she has admitted were ‘unkind’ – have now resurfaced in Robbie’s newly-released Netflix documentary, which looks back on his career and revisits all the highs and lows.
Having watched the doc and thought it was ‘brilliant’, Sophie has publicly addressed her past criticism of Robbie and also revealed she reached out to him a few years ago to reconcile.
In a video posted to Instagram this weekend, the pop star began: ‘I wanted to hop on here because I’ve watched the Robbie Williams documentary on Netflix and I think it’s really good, I think he comes across really well, I love how open he is, I think it really makes you understand him a bit more as a person.
‘I’m also aware that I feature in it. I have a cameo because there’s a clip from me when I’m 19 years old in 1998 and I am not being very kind.’
She continued: ‘I’m getting a lot of messages from people saying, “Wow, you are really not being very kind about Robbie.” I just want to say, I know. I know I wasn’t very kind.’
Sophie then admitted that the incident has ‘bothered’ her ‘for about 20 years’.
‘I’m not raising my kids to not be kind,’ she insisted.
The Masked Singer star concluded: ‘Anyway, I just want to say, I know I was horrible, I felt terrible, I said sorry, I didn’t even mean it, and Robbie was incredibly gracious.
‘We’ve made up. In fact, we’ve made some music together.’
In her caption, the performer added more detail, describing her attitude towards Robbie in the past as ‘horrid’.
Sophie spoke of the shame she felt for being a ‘gobby’ teen (Picture: Fred Duval/FilmMagic)
The pop star is now good friends with Robbie and his wife (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
She also said she ‘didn’t need to see’ the footage of her slating him again ‘to feel bad.’
‘I thought it was clever to be gobby back then but it wasn’t cool then and it’s even worse to see it now,’ she confessed, assuring she doesn’t feel ‘proud’ about what happened.
On a more positive note, she explained that she found an address for Robbie a few years ago to write him a letter, describing how sorry she was.
Sophie said Robbie’s response was ‘very gracious and forgiving’, so they met up last summer with his wife, Ayda Field, and children.
‘It was lovely to be able to become friends and we have now made some songs together,’ Sophie said. ‘I suppose the moral of this story is, as ever, be kind. To own your mistakes. And if you’re ever cruel, try to make sure it’s not filmed as it’s bloody brutal to see sharp-tongued teenage me after all these years! Yikes.’
Sophie’s comments section was packed with messages of support.
Robbie was ‘gracious’ in his response when Sophie reached out with an apology letter a few years ago (Picture: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Chopard)
The Angels hitmaker looks back on his career in his new Netflix documentary (Picture: Netflix/David Tarling)
Comedian Jenny Eclair, 63, commented: ‘The 90s were toxic and we were all encouraged to be vile – I look back on that time and squirm and I was a lot older than you x’
‘I didn’t see why he put it in his documentary since you said you were sorry ages ago and you are both okay now… anyway, I’ll always stick by your side’, added another confused fan.
Another praised: ‘I’m so glad to read this post, watched it today and was really taken back by that part, we all say things we wish we hadn’t, only way to recover is own it and apologise, well done for doing what you did reaching out to him and well done for posting this ❤️’
Robbie’s Netflix doc, in which he looks back on 30 years or archive footage, has fuelled plenty of headlines since its release.
The Angels hitmaker most notably speaks about his boy band days and his strained relationship with ex-bandmate Gary Barlow, but has since insisted he’s not out to ‘bash’ Gary.
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Robbie’s doc leaves no stone unturned, from high-profile romances to mental health struggles (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Robbie left the band in 1995 and went on to have a very successful solo career, which is still going strong.
Meanwhile, Gary remains in Take That and is due to embark on a tour next year with fellow members Mark Owen and Howard Donald.
Also in his doc, Robbie talks about how relentless press intrusion ’ruined’ a ‘joyous’ time in his life during his romance with Geri Halliwell, as well as his relationship with his children, and his mental health struggles.
Robbie Williams’ documentary is streaming now on Netflix.
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Sophie regrets being a ‘gobby’ teenager.