Robbie Williams has admitted that he believes Taylor Swift did not know who he was when he joined her on stage in June 2018.
The American megastar, 35, surprised fans with a special guest appearance from Robbie during her Reputation tour at Wembley Stadium six-and-a-half years ago.
But speaking to US radio station SiriusXM Hits 1 on Thursday, Robbie revealed that he thinks Taylor had absolutely no idea who he was ahead of the performance.
Robbie Williams said his theory is that Taylor only invited him on stage after her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, who is English, suggested that he was big in the UK and would be a good choice of special guest.
He said: ‘When I came up through the stage and the audience erupted you could just see this thing in her face go “Uh? Eh?” and I’m like “Yeah, yeah I’m the mayor of this here. I’m a big deal.’
The confession comes after Americans claimed to have ‘never heard of him’ ahead of the US release of his monkey biopic Better Man – sparking a huge debate.
Speaking in his US interview last week, Robbie Williams said: ‘I think the interesting this is that Taylor, I think, knew the concept of a Robbie Williams somewhere in the world but I don’t think she knew anything about me.
‘And I think maybe whoever she was dating at the time was English and went “Hey maybe you should get Robbie Williams”. I think this is how it went.
‘But when I came up through the stage and the audience erupted you could just see this thing in her face go “Uh? Eh?” and I’m like “Yeah, yeah I’m the mayor of this here. I’m a big deal, I keep telling everybody I’m a big deal.” And she was like “Oh he’s a big deal”.’
The Fearless singer introduced the pop icon to a packed Wembley crowd back in 2018 before the pair performed a moving duet of Angels.
Robbie Williams appeared to rapturous applause and cheers, and was appropriately dressed for the occasion, sporting a Taylor Swift t-shirt.
Teaming the look with a glittering red and black jacket, Robbie used his natural charisma to charm the audience while Taylor played the piano.
The pair then wrapped their arms around each other as they watched the crowd chant the lyrics back to them.
Robbie’s confession that Taylor wasn’t aware of him comes just after he was involved in a huge online debate after it emerged that Americans as a whole weren’t either.
Brits were forced to defend Robbie with Americans slamming his new musical monkey biopic and claiming they ‘had no idea who he is’.
Biopic Better Man has received glowing reviews from critics, as they praised the film as ‘riveting’, ‘bombastic’ and ‘utterly inspired’.
The semi-biographical movie follows the singer’s meteoric rise to fame as a member of Take That and subsequent dramatic fall, as he battled with his personal demons and the challenges that success can bring.
In a twist on the genre, the pop star is portrayed as a chimpanzee in the film, while everyone else in human, with Jonno Davies acting the movements via motion capture technology and Robbie doing most of the voicework.
However, as clips from the film have started circulating on social media, baffled Americans are admitting they have ‘never heard of him’ – and Brits were left baffled.
While critics branded the monkey decision a ‘huge risk’ and potentially ‘stupid gambit’, they declared it ended up being genius choice and ‘one of the most inspired bits of casting of the year’.
They also heaped praise on director Michael Gracey for creating the right balance of fun-filled choreographed musical numbers with deep emotional scenes and said the film does best when delving into Robbie’s vulnerability.
In his four star review for Roger Egbert.com, Clint Worthington said the chimp gimmick was a ‘smart move’ that allowed Robbie to ‘vulnerably share his lows while underplaying the pomp and circumstance of his highs.’
He added: ‘You won’t see another music biopic quite like “Better Man,” regardless of your level of familiarity with its subject. There’s a surfeit of charm here that helps sell the nonsensical gimmick.’