I can give up smoking, drinking, coke... but not sugar
Brian Conley’s buzzing about his new show
out exercising for three hours. I went and threw myself at it and my body called out ‘You’re 43 now. Have a bit of a bad back instead’.’’
He jokes: “I’m like Frank Spencer. I mean well, but inevitably I’ll f**k up.” He explains: “I’m really a person who could be morbidly obese. I’m in a constant battle with sugar. I can give up smoking, drinking, coke. I can stop all these things but chocolate. I’m testament to that.”
He laughs: “I can mainline Cadbury’s... whatever they have got on offer. They have a new chocolate with popping candy and this jelly or, I don’t know, gelatine filling and there is this Cadbury’s marshmallows thing as well.
“In 20 years time, people will probably be looking at sugar the same way they look at cigarettes now. It will be the devil and people will be asking ‘Are you still doing that?’” The temptation of chocolate Easter eggs is looming, but Robbie has time to prepare for his European tour, which will take him to 18 countries. It kicks off in the UK in June and includes dates in Manchester, Coventry, Cardiff and London before heading to the Continent and ending in Russia in September. The born showman is keeping details of what’s in store for audiences strictly under wraps for the moment and says he does not want to self sabotage the tour by revealing too much. However, he can’t resist adding: “It’s going to be a big production tour with lots of showmanship and songs that people might know.” Stoke-onTrent’s famous son has spent a large chunk of his life in the public spotlight, from his early days with Take That to his solo career, which recently led to him being awarded the prestigious Brits Icon Award. It is the highest accolade given by the Brits and has previously only been presented to Sir Elton John and David Bowie.
But fame can come at a price and he says being in the limelight can be “scary and annoying at the same time.
“The life I have can be quite agoraphobic, more out of necessity that anything else, it’s just how it is,” he explains. “I signed up for this life and I love my job, but the attention is one of the side effects of the medicine.”
His wife Ayda and their children Theodora (known as Teddy), and Charlie are the centre of his world and he says with simple pride: “My wife is my best friend. My mate. I live with my best friend and my best friend’s mother. My mum comes to the house as well and so does my dad.
“My children know what I do, but they don’t know what it means. Teddy knows I go and sing and that’s my job.” He adds with a laugh: “But Charlie is only two and has not got a clue.”
So are Teddy or Charlie showing any early signs of following in his footsteps? “I’d be shocked if Teddy didn’t go into the entertainment industry in some form or other,” he says. “She’s only four-and-a-half, but she is so dramatic and makes up her own songs. I think it must be in her DNA. She just does it. It’s so cute to watch.
“I have to admit I would be really thrown if she ever said she wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer. I think she is more likely to follow me. You’ve got to be encouraging and support whatever they want to do.”