Robbie Williams escapes death with girlfriend's help

Melbourne, (ANI): Robbie Williams was close to death after his last world tour but eventually bounced back to life, thanks to girlfriend Ayda Field.

The singer's last world tour ended in Australia in December 2006. The gruelling, record-breaking nine-month stadium tour took toll on Williams. The singer, who'd beaten alcohol and cocaine addictions in the past, started downing dangerous amounts of prescription drugs.

"I know it gets sensationalised when I say, ''I was very close to death'', but I was. It was a scary time. It's scarier since people like Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger have been popping their clogs," News.com.au quoted Williams as saying.

Williams gave up music and didn't want to be a pop star any more. On his 33rd birthday in February 2007, his management asked him to check into rehab to kick his drug addiction.

He said: "I pretty much thought 'Is this worth it?' It was obviously not making me happy. The definition of insanity is repeating the same things and expecting a different result. At the time I thought, with the kicking and the rehab, maybe there's other things in life?"

And then, Williams met actress Ayda Field. "Yeah, I got big. Normally the woman gets bigger once they've fallen in love, they call it the honey trap ... 'I've got him, I'll sit on the sofa and eat what I want'," Williams said.

"It happened in reverse this time, I found the woman I love and I thought, 'OK, I don't have to fit in these trousers', and did the eating thing. She did too, but she's got far better genes. I like to do things in reverse like that," he added.