Robbie Williams has spoken out about the time he hid Geri Halliwell in the boot of her own car.
The singer appeared on The Graham Norton Show over the weekend to discuss his new book, Reveal.
The host asked if Williams had contacted the people he talks about in the book to see whether they granted him permission to retell the stories about them. The singer said “No, I haven’t done that” then proceeded to tell one of the stories Norton has mentioned.
“We weren’t dating, we were friends,” The former Take That member said. “I used to have this flat in Notting Hill, and the window was quite public. I’d be watching the TV and a bus would pull up, and they’d just be watching Robbie Williams watch the television every 20 minutes.”
“That particular evening, Geri was around at the flat,” he continued. “I don’t know how but 20 to 25 paparazzi were outside and they were letting the flashlights go off like this, trying to get us to come to the window.”
“I thought ‘I’m gonna phone the police to see what my rights are. I don’t like to bother the police, but this is weird.’ The police came around, and I said, ‘I’m really sorry to get you round, mate. I don’t want to be a hindrance but I’ve got all of these paparazzi and I just want to know what my rights are.’ The policeman goes, ‘Can I stop you? When you start out, in your career, that’s when you want the press, isn’t it? When the press want something from you, you don’t like that, do you?’”
Williams, who had Halliwell hiding in a cupboard, got rid of the policeman and devised a plan.
“I’m like, ‘Geri we can’t do anything about the paparazzi, we should get out of here,’” he said. “I had a genius idea to put her in a Hold-All because she’s a very small person. I literally put her in this duffle bag and put her over my shoulder. I had the paparazzi all taking pictures and I’m like, ‘Hi, guys!’“
“She had a car and I put her in the boot of her car, which is funny.”
