Fame, fortune, Robbie Williams knew what he wanted and chased after it, but being a family man was never something that was on the cards... that is, until he met Ayda Field.
As the Take That star journeyed through addiction on the road to recovery and sobriety, his one true love was by his side through it all, and in what he assumed would be the ultimate sacrifice, a scared s**tless Robbie took a leap of faith and decided he was ready to become a dad.
And by God, did that pay off for him. Now, 15 years after they tied the knot, Robbie and Ayda are as in love as they've ever been, and they've got four beautiful children together. So, just what do we know about their love story?
How they met
Pic: Neil Mockford/FilmMagic
Robbie and Ayda are believed to have met in 2006 when she appeared in a UFO documentary he was working on for BBC Radio 4.
In Robbie's memoir Reveal, he spoke about their first date, when he famously stood his future wife up. He wrote: 'I googled her, she was obviously very attractive. But I was also doing a lot of pills that were making me antisocial. So we had plans but I flaked.
Pic: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
'I left her a message days, weeks, later, and it made her laugh. We made plans to meet. But I wasn’t leaving my house, so she had to meet me there, which freaked her out a bit.'
When Ayda arrived at his home, Robbie wasn't in a good way. In his self-titled Netflix docuseries, the singer recalled: 'I’d just seen off my dealer who I was sleeping with at the time.'
And then came his wife's version of events. She recounted: 'The house was completely f**king dark, no candles, no light. I was like, "This is weird," so we were sitting talking, we had nothing in common.'
The mum-of-four said they headed to a party, and it was on the car ride there that she and Robbie connected on a deeper level.
'Maybe because we both surrendered to the fact that we were not each other’s person and this was a total mess,' she said. 'We just were like completely loose with each other.
'We were saying funny s**t in the car and I was like, "Oh, he is funny"... We were laughing. I cannot even tell you what happened. It was like the universe opened up.'
Robbie sweetly added: 'I had this moment where I felt as if I'd known her forever.'
A pitstop in Splitsville
In the height of his addiction struggles, Robbie needed to go to rehab in 2007, and decided to call things off with Ayda before he was admitted.
Speaking in the docuseries, Ayda said: 'I remember it was 2am and I called him and I was like, "I am just getting on the highway" and he's like, "Are you driving? Call me when you get home".'
'And he is like, "I can't be in a relationship, I have to get better and I can't be with you. I have to break up with you",' she said. 'And it was like, I understood it because I saw that he was unwell and I remember thinking, "I just want you to get better".'
It was only a short pitstop in Splitsville for Robbie and Ayda, and they rekindled their romance, travelled the world together, and Robbie popped the question in the 2009 festive period.
Rob's a romantic
Robbie popped the question to Ayda in the most romantic way at the end of 2009.
In a 2018 social media post, the singer told his followers: 'Every time I used to think of Ayda and pull a card from a deck, it would always be a queen, so I took her to the place I first laid my eyes on her and gave her four queens. Each card said one word each. Will... You... Marry... Me?'
Tying the knot
It was on August 7, 2010, that Robbie and Ayda tied the knot at his home in Mulholland Estates in Beverly Hills, LA.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, the crooner said of their big day: 'Ayda looked like the most beautiful girl in the world. The setting was so magical, and to be surrounded by family and close friends and then see Ayda appear looking so radiant was almost too much for me to take… I'm the happiest man alive.'
Their family
Becoming a dad has shaped Robbie into the person he is today, but fatherhood wasn't something that was on the cards for him before Ayda.
Speaking on their podcast Staying at Home with the Williamses, the singer said he grew up in a 'broken home', and confessed that he was terrified that he wouldn't know how to look after a child when he couldn't look after himself.
'I remember thinking, "Oh I don't want the same thing as Ayda. I want her, but I don't want the family, for many reasons. How can I raise someone when I can't raise myself and I come from a broken home? So what is the point of me actually doing this?"'
'It wasn't a selfish reason it was a sort of humane reason when I am at war in my own head every single day,' he added. 'And I can't look after myself so how can I justify bringing someone into the world?'
Robbie and Ayda welcomed their first child, a daughter named Theodora 'Teddy', in 2012, and instantly, the singer fell head over heels in love with his little girl, and it changed his whole perspective.
'It's that moment when Teddy just looked at me, and the universe looked at me, he previously said. 'And just that connection of this overwhelming euphoric feeling higher than any drug, and more real than any pill or any powder or alcohol. And I think in that moment I got it.'
Robbie said that having children has made his life 'fuller' and that he's now more 'content' that he has a family of his own.
The 51-year-old and his wife Ayda went on to welcome a son named Charlton 'Charlie' in 2014. The couple welcomed a daughter named Colette 'Coco' in 2018, and a son named Beau in 2020, both born via surrogacy.
Intimacy
Robbie and Ayda have been open in the past about how there's little sex in their marriage, but that it doesn't bother them.
At the beginning of 2023, the singer told of how his sex drive dwindled after he made the decision to quit testosterone injections, which had been giving him an 'insatiable' sexual appetite, but in turn, worsening his depression.
As open and honest as ever, Robbie said: 'The sex we had when I was on testosterone was incredible; it was all the time. We were insatiable.'
Chatting to The Sun about how intimacy looks for a couple who have been around the block, they said: 'Everyone knows there’s no sex after marriage'.
But that doesn't stop the singer from sharing intimacy and closeness, since they're as tight-knit and 'on the same page' as ever, with Ayda remarking: 'Intimacy is the important, meaningful side of love. We’re happy'.
Robbie added: 'Sometimes now, though, Ayda will turn to me on the sofa and say, "We should do sex," and I’m sitting there eating a tangerine and just sort of shrug. So, ya know, sometimes we try.'
Renewing their vows
Rather untraditionally, Robbie and Ayda used their 14th wedding anniversary as an opportunity to renew their wedding vows.
Reflecting on how grateful he is in a lengthy message, Robbie revealed his vow renewal in a very understated way and said that he had recently spent time with friends and family who 'make me very happy'.
They all watched the Olympics together, which the singer noted was 'incredibly wholesome'. 'I met new people that I really liked and my life is better for those encounters,' he explained.
'I feel confident and I’m experiencing a new vitality that I’ve been missing,' Robbie gushed, before recalling: 'I got a new smile. I got a new pink jacket. I played in the pool. I ate some crap and it was lovely crap.
'I wrote and recorded two new songs. One for the end titles of my film. I played basketball with Teddy Charlie and Beau. Oh, Me and Ayda renewed our vows.'
'I am very, very, very grateful. I’m grateful right now,' Robbie continued. 'I’m not in the future, tired and stressed. I’m right here right now grateful.'
'What are you grateful for?,' the singer urged his followers to reflect. 'Write it. Feel it. If you can’t be arsed to write it. Think it. Own it.'
Celebrating anniversaries
On August 7, 2025, Robbie and Ayda celebrated their crystal wedding anniversary, 15 years after tying the knot.
Marking the occasion, the couple shared a sweet carousel of photos from their life together. Ayda wrote: '15 photos for 15 years of love, laughter and just the right amount of madness... I DO.
'Forever and a day… I will walk over that bridge with you. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BOO #ilovemylife #mrandmrs #forever.'
That night, Robbie, who was playing a gig at Stockholms Stadion in Sweden, had the entire stadium wish Ayda a happy anniversary by singing 'Happy Anniversary' in the tune of 'Happy Birthday'. How sweet!?
